The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 23

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR -1 jUiJ Indiana, Purdue face stiff challenges Gophers threat e. J. 27. streak unTURBAY, JANUARY 30, IS82- 5-gBIM State (4 3, 13-6) visits. Illinois (43, 11-5) hosts Michigan (16, 2-13) and Northwestern (2-5, 6 10) visits Michigan State (34, 89).

NOTRE DAME, REJUVENATED by winning three straight and four of its last five to improve to 6-10, is home to rival Marquette (13-6), in a game that's not what it has been but still could prove interesting. Butler is home tonight (8 o'clock, WAJC) against Evansville in a big ter. Evansville leads the league at 4-1 while Butler is 3 2. Ball State, (4 3, 88) hosts MidAmerican co-leader Eastern Michigan (52, 12 5) while Indiana State (16, 7-10) visits Illinois State (5 2, 12-5) in a Missouri Valley game. Locally, Indiana Central (2 4, 6-11) entertains Bellarmine in a Great Lakes game at Nicoson' Hall (7:30, WICR); Indiana-Purdue, Indianapolis travels to Indiana Tech and Marian journeys to Indiana-Purdue, Fort Wayne.

Midwestern City Conference encoun- he said. We have all the Big Ten powers coming here in the second half Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana. It's important that we win these games. But since our people played it their way tonight (Thursday), we're going to go back to doing it my way, even if it means playing freshmen." Wisconsin's Bill Cofield has been playing freshmen all along and has two good ones in 6-6 forward Cory Blackwell and speedy point guard Carl Colston. Senior guard John Bailey is the other threat for the Badgers, who have lost six straight to fall to 1-6 in the league and 4-11 overall.

Purdue, 4-3 in the Big Ten and 7-9 overall, definitely needs to get 6-10 Russell Cross back in gear. Hampered by the collapsable defenses employed by Indiana and Illinois, Cross has taken only 14 shots in his last two games, scoring just 19 points. He also has just seven rebounds in his last two starts. In other Big Ten games, fifth-ranked Iowa (6-1, 14-2) tries to protect its leadership when enigmatic Ohio 14 to 12 OFF School probe into incident still pending By BILL BENNER Success in the Big Ten basketball race doesn't necessarily mean that life is getting better. It only means that it isn't getting any worse.

Take, for instance, Indiana's Hoo-siers, who have rebounded from their two opening defeats to put together a five-game winning streak that is long-; est of all Big Ten teams. The run has thrust Bob Knight's 5-, 2 team back into a contending position, one game off the 6-1 pace being set by Iowa. But the challenges ahead certainly are greater than those behind. IN THE NEXT FIVE games, starting with today's semi nationally tele-, vised game with Minnesota in Assem-' bly Hall (3 p.m., Channel 13, WIRE), I.U. meets the Gophers twice, Iowa twice and Illinois once.

At the same time, Purdue's Boilermakers will be engaged in a pivotal series of games as they attempt call a halt to their two-game slide when Wisconsin travels to Mackey Arena (1 p.m., Channel 13, WIBC). In addition to a return engagement next Saturday at V. Wisconsin, Purdue has contenders Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State and In-! diana at home and Minnesota on the road. It's not coincidental that Indiana's streak from last to second has gone hand-in-hand with 6-8 Steve Bouchie's emergence as a consistent player in the middle. U-V The burly junior tied his season tiigh with 18 points in shaky, 62-' 56 win over at Wisconsin Thursday Big Ten Standings ON ALL SKI Parkas Ski Bibs The Indianapolis Public Schools system internal investigation into the alleged shooting following the Broad Ripple-Arling Steve Bouchie At West Lafayette, Coach Gene Keady was appropriately steaming after the Boilers lost by 15 points, at home to Illinois a night when the Purdues, save Keith Edmonson, hit just 4 of 34 shots from the floor.

As he has at other times in Purdue's season, Keady hinted at lineup changes. "I'M NOT VERY HAPPY right Sweaters Ms' ton boys basketball game is still pending, according to Leroy (Dee) Compton, director of physical edu cation. Today's Schedule Randy Breuer night and grabbed a career high 10 rebounds. Since Indiana's winning streak began, Bouchie has averaged 10.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and shot .571 from the floor. Before the streak began, his field goal percentage had been only .405.

TODAY, THAT IMPROVEMENT will be tested by the Gophers' 7-3 junior, Randy Breuer, who is generally recognized as the conference's best pivotman. Tenth-ranked Minnesota, 13-3 overall and tied with Indiana at 5-2 in the Big Ten, has gotten solid numbers out of Breuer: 18 points, seven rebounds and 54 percent shooting per game. In the past, Indiana's strategy against a good big man has been to give its center i.e. Bouchie plenty of help, usually by forward Ted Kit-chel. Thus, the onus likely will fall upon the likes of forward Trent Tucker (13.6 ppg) and guard Darryl Mitchell (11.9) to fill it up from the perimeter.

Coach Jim Dutcher's team will be trying for its first win in four games against I.U. Heed Ski Equipment? Minnesota at Indiana (3 p.m., Channel 4, WIRE). Wisconsin et Purdue (1 p.m., Channel 6, WIBC). Evansvllle at Butler (I p.m., WAJC). Bellarmlne at Indiana Central (7:30 p.m., WICH).

Michigan at Illinois. A young man, said to be an Arlington varsity basketball player, reportedly followed the Rockets' bus back to Broad Ripple and allegedly fired shots at the bus upon the team's return to the school parking lot after the game ended in Northwestern at Michigan Stat. Ohio State at Iowa. CHECK OUR PRICES K.C. pitcher fined Rochester, N.Y.

(UPI) Kansas City Royals' pitcher Mike Jones has been fined $250 and his drivers' license was suspended for 90 days on his guilty plea in connection with a December autmobile accident near his home in the Rochester suburb of Pitts-ford. Jones, 22, entered the plea Thursday night before Pittsford Judge Thomas Goldman to a reduced charge of driving while his ability was impaired. He had originally been charged with driving while intoxicated. Jones was injured in the one-car crash Dec. 21 near his home in Pitts-ford when he lost control of his car and struck a tree.

Confaranct All Gamat Ct. Pet. Eastern Michigan at Ball State. Marquette at Notre Dame. Indiana State at Illinois State.

Indiana-Purdue, Indianapolis, at Indiana Tech. Bethel at St. Francis. DePauw at MacMurray. Earlham at Wilmington.

Huntington at Goshen. Grace at Marlon. Flndlay at Hanover. Kentucky Wesleyan at Indiana State-Evansville. David Lipscomb at Indiana-Southeast.

Manchester at Deflonco. Marian at Indiana-Purdue, Fort Wayne. Rose-Hulman at Greenville. Lewis at St. Joseph's.

Valparaiso at Northern Iowa. Moberly at Vlncennes. Wabash at Blackburn. I .157 .714 .714 .571 .571 .571 CHCKRBOARD OAMIfTORI MMUM1MD Imida TMOIT MALI KEYSTONE SQUMI U6H) Kaytton, Camwl 844-3737 IOWA 6 INDIANA Minnesota 5 PUROUI 4 Illinois 4 Ohio Stata 4 Michigan State 3 Northwestern 2 Wisconsin I Michigan 1 .875 .113 .431 .688 .404 .471 .375 .267 .133 11625 WESTFIELD BLVD. CORNER SHOPPING CENTER CARMEL STORE ONLY .479 .214 .143 .143 4 10 4 11 2 13 Gambling Aces to face Butler; await DePaul ji it I sun.

i tejrzgmvL 5929E82ndS SYLVANIA 6-HR. VIDEO RECORDER "rUJ- with Built-in VHFUHF Tuner Brad Leaf Theren Bullock Built-in VHFUHF tuner you can re CASH CARRY cord one program while watching another. Soft-touch electronic function controls. WHIlf QUANTITIES LAST RCA VIDEO DISC RCA 6 HR BLANK CASSETTES II I III II PLAYER By DAVID KNIGHT Star Sportswriter Evansville, Ind. It was like a poker game: Three Aces and a little chitchat.

The two senior co-captains sat next to each other. They kept raising the stakes. The sophomore sat apart, ante-ing up his two cents worth when asked. The seniors, 6-5 guard Brad Leaf and 6-6 forward Theren Bullock, are the gurus of an Evansville basketball team which is 14-3 and leads the Midwestern City Conference with a 4-1 mark going into tonight's game against Butler (8 p.m.). The sophomore, 6-9 forward Richie Johnson, is the 'strong, power forward we've missed the last two years." These players, joined by 7-foot sophomore center Emir Turam, 6-1 senior guard Eric Harris and 6-10 sophomore "sixth man" Kenny Perry, have made Evansville into one of the comeback stories of college basketball since the plane crash in December 1977 wiped out the 1977-78 team and its coach, Bobby Watson.

"I BELIEVE Coach Walters (Dick) has everything to do with it," said Bullock, whose nickname is "Snow" and whose Mississippi drawl is cluttered with exclamation points. "He has played the cards right! Totally! There's a lot of things he used to do I personally couldn't understand, I thought some players should have played and didn't when I was a freshman and a sophomore. But he was just building! Building! For the long run!" Leaf called and raised Bullock's bet. The Lawrence North High School product, who leads the club in scoring (16 ppg), "garbage baskets," and free throw shooting, enrolled at Evansville after the tragedy "because I thought I would get to play right away." He didn't at first but started the final seven games that year, averaging 11.2 points. "I thought about leaving three or four times," Leaf said.

"I pretty much had myself packed one time and Coach got me to stay. I had already planned on going to another school. Other schools were welcoming me. I really don't know why I stayed." LEAF'S STATS are ail-American. Walters calls him a "big game player." As a sophomore, he averaged 16.2 and set a team season free throw percentage record of .821.

He scored 24 points, had 12 rebounds, five steals and six assists against Coach Ray Meyer's DePaul Blue Demons. As a junior, Leaf averaged 17.6 and was 846 349 RCA IIBATt $50 i $29995 irr nrrituwirm TOUI COST TO SELL SacBiom HUNDREDS OF VIDEO DISCS IN STOCK INCLUDING from the free throw line. He began his senior year as the 16th all-time Evansville scorer behind such people as Larry Humes, Don Buse, Jerry Sloan and Buster Briley. He is now fifth and should finish second behind Humes. "Brad Leaf gets the knock about him that he's too slow," Walters said.

"But I saw him go out against UCLA (last season), get 20 points, seven, rebounds and seven assists against Michael Holton and Rod Foster, two of the quickest players in college basketball. Against Darius demons (Loyola) the other night, Leaf goes for 31 points, demons is supposed to be the best point guard in the country. I'll take Brad Leaf over Darius demons any day of the week. "HOW COULD you not have any respect for Brad Leaf?" Walters continued. "What you see when you look at Brad Leaf is only because that is what he has made himself.

He gets the most out of what he's got (than) any player I've ever seen." Johnson, who is called "Magic" by his team-' mates, was an Indiana All-Star from New Albany High School, which finished second, to Broad Ripple in the 1980 state finals. He went to Missouri, now the No. 1-ranked team in the country, stayed eight weeks and came "home" to Evansville. "I wanted to play be happy with my teammates," Johnson said. "I couldn't do that at Missouri." Bullock raised Johnson.

"We were restricted in our play the first few years and we fastbreak more with Richie. When Richie hits the lane and fires that 10-foot jumper, he don't miss." Johnson also leads the club in rebounding. VHS TAPE CLUB Grease Caberat Kramer vs Kramer Airplane Heaven Can Wait Stir Crazy History of me World Pt. I Urban Cowboy The Godfather Ordinary People Chinatown Network Coma The Raging Bull The Elephant Man Charlie ESrown Festival Muppet Movie Love Bug The Black Stallion Star Trek Richard Pryor in Concert Patton The Last Waltz Goldfinger 95 9 FULL 1-YEAR MEMBERSHIP Includes FREE Rentals NO" Additional Rentals $5.00 for Three Days No Extra Charge for Adult Titles No Deposit on Rental Tapes AND MANY MORE SYLVANIA 6-HR. VIDEO TAPE RECORDER FINAL CLOSE-OUT VIDEO AUDIO FURNITURE $6688 UMfTED QUANTITIES RSH I i 'OFF SuDerscan INCIUOIS shows you what's on the tape at Bd in both forward and rewind in 9x normal hour models.

4-nour and ENTIRE STOCK 9-FUNCTION WIRELESS liMOTI CONTROL INCLUDED. Up to 6 hours of continuous recording ana pldybdcR. Soft-Touch Electronic push button UHFVHF channel selector IN STOCK MrTTTiEL LCTR0niC5 (N jjqck iNtEUDViSiON" 0N SAlE ON SALE TM ATAR BULLOCK, WHOSE mother died of lung cancer last October, is called the "spiritual leader" of the club. An Eisenhower High School product from the Chicago playgrounds, he recalled an incident in his sophomore year against DePaul. "I remember Coach Meyer said we were the slowest team he had ever seen! Eveii Mark (Aguirre) said in the same article that we couldn't beat them unless three or four of them got struck down by lightning! We'll be ready this time." Leaf and Bullock both said Evansville does "not get the recognition we deserve." Leaf added: "We've really not won the big game yet.

I think this year's gonna be the year." Three of the Aces' losses were on the road at Indiana State, at Kansas in overtime and at Oklahoma City. Bullock philosophized on the failures. "We're a'different team now," he said. "Against Indiana State (67-58) and against Kansas (72-65) we were too timid. We were just fighting the clock! We were just wanting that clock to tick away, please tick away! Instead of being strong minded and taking that layup, taking that short jumper, we were watching that clock tick, tick, tick!" The Aces lost big leads in all three of those games.

On Feb. 10 at the Rosemont (III.) Horizon," Evansville expects to be 17-3, ranked in the Top 20. by the wire service polls and ready to play "the biggest game of our lives." "We're gonna take it to them!" Bullock called. 'We're just going to have to beat their butts," Leaf raised. i The pot is getting full.

The stakes are high. For the Aces, the sun could be shining over the Horizon. Intelligent Television Wrestling meet begins today No. 1 state-ranked, Delta will begin defense of its Indiana high school wrestling state champion- ship today as the sectional rounds of the 44th annual tournament begin at 64 sites. Hosting local action will be Brebeuf, Decatur Central, Franklin Central, Howe, Lawrence Central, Pike and Southport.

Action at sectionals at either 9:30 a.m. or 1 p.m., depending on the total teams competing. Finals are at 3:30 and 7:30. 1 Lawrence North's Wildcats, the Marion County champions, are the highest rated local team at No. 3.

Coach Sandy Tilton, who also won a crown at jScecina, is the only local mentor who has coached teams to both a city and county team titles. Cathedral's Irish, the city champs, are ranked No. 9 and North Central is voted No. 10 by the coaches. Tech is 15th and Perry Meridian stands The-top two sectional wrestlers will qualify for the regionals, the top two regional finishers will advance to the semistate and the top three from the semis will move on to the state finals.

Regional Feb. 6, will be hosted locally by Howe. Semistates, Feb. 13, will be at ton North, Fort Wayne North, Franklin Central and Merriliville. The state finals will be Friday, Feb.

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