St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 18

3 MAR 3 11995 SPORTS 40 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH FRIDAY, MARCH 31,1995 BASKETBALL NIT Reeves Virginia Tech Wins 65-64 In Overtime Late Free Throws Help Beat Marquette 1 I 1 -4 By The Associated Press Shawn Smith, who struggled from the free throw line this season, made the two biggest foul shots of his career Wednesday night. Smith, a 67 percent free throw shooter, made two with less than a second left in overtime and lifted Virginia Tech over quette 65-64 at Madison Square Garden in New York for the National Invitation Tournament championship. "I wasn't trying to be a hero. I just wanted to win the game," said the junior forward, who made 10 of 12 from the line.

Smith, voted the tournament most valuable player after getting 24 points and 12 rebounds in the final, was fouled by Faisal Abraham as he went up for a shot under the basket with-seven-tenths of a second remaining. He made his first free throw, tying the garnet then sank his second after Marquette called a timeout. "He had to step to the line and make them, and he did just that," Marquette coach Mike Deane said. Deane refused to complain about the call. "I thought we fouled them," he said.

"It was a gutsy call to make, but the disadvantage would have been too great for them if a call wasn't made." After Smith made the free throws, Marquette inbounded the ball to Anthony Pieper just across midcourt, but he failed to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded. The NIT title was the second for Virginia Tech (25-10), which won in overtime over Notre Dame in 1973. "If you want national exposure, this is how you're going to do it," Tech coach Bill Foster said. Marquette, which won the NIT in 1970, finished with a 21-12 record. "It was disappointing the way we lost.

We're just going to come back stronger next year," freshman guard Aaron Hutchins said. Hutchins made one of two from the line, tying the game 57-57 with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Virginia Tech then set up for a possible winning shot, but Myron Gulliory missed a shot in the lane. Marquette got the rebound and Pieper's halfcourt shot bounced off the rim as time expired. Both teams shot only 38 percent from the field, but Tech was much more accurate from the line.

The Hokies made 20 of 26 free throws. Marquette made 6 of 16. Penn State 66, Canisius 62: Dan Earl scored 17 points, including two on free throws with 6.4 seconds left, as Penn State won the NIT consolation game. Penn State led 58-46 with 7 minutes 55 seconds remaining, but Canisius fought back and tied it 62-62 on a steal and dunk by Craig Wise with 1:56 remaining. John Amaechi hit two foul shots with 46 seconds left, giving give Penn State (2 1-1 1) a 64-62 lead.

Canisius (21-14) missed three shots on one possession in the closing seconds and then fouled Earl, who made both free throws. L7-- I -t- 4 mi in i .1 i 1 From page one he were in any bigger media base with more exposure Reeves, 7 feet and 292 pounds, twice has been player of the year in the Big Eight Conference the nation's best league, according to various computer polls. He led the conference in rebounding and shooting percentage three times, and thrice finished first or second in scoring. Former Kansas Jayhawk Wilt Chamberlain and Reeves are the only players to lead the storied conference in all three categories in the same year. If the transformation sounds astonishing, well, it was.

But as barren as Reeves' future might have appeared that first day of practice in 1990, it was only a week or so before his prospects had brightened considerably. Iba said he never had seen a player improve so much in such a brief time. Reeves was relentless and had blind faith in the word of Sutton, a faith that never faltered. It was apparent that Reeves' rawness was just that. And how could it have been otherwise? Refinement, after all, wasn't going to take place in Reeves' hometown of Gans, Okla.

(pop. 346). "It's just a good place to come from," says Reeves. Not, though, a good place to have learned the nuances of basketball. Seven basketball coaches whirled through there in his four years of high school.

There were 50 students at Gans High six on the basketball team. "Practice in high school was terrible," said Reeves, who learned to play on one of two courts in Gans the concrete one his father poured beside their house. "They usually were about a half-hour and consisted mostly of layups. You really couldn't do much with six guys. When we did try to run our offense, we had to dry-run it five on 0." So Reeves embraced the words of Oklahoma State coaches, not to mention the elbows of nasty teammate Byron Houston.

"At first, I was like, 'What's this? How do you play like Reeves said. "But playing with Byron, that gave me the confidence I could play." The summer before his sophomore year, Reeves even accepted the advice of then-assistant coach Bill Self, who thought Reeves should get to a city to play better competition. Reeves called Self when he began to do so. Self recalled saying. "Where you guys headed? Tulsa? Oklahoma "No That's Sallisaw, pop.

6,403. Such Reeves' anecdotes, some embellished more than others, are abundant. But Reeves is no dope. He registered a 24 on his collegiate standardized test, and he is playful but not goofy. And he remains the same kind and polite young man he was when he arrived in Stillwater.

"He was born 100 years too late," Sutton says. "He would do good with Daniel Boone and those boys." But he was just in time to get Oklahoma State back to the Final Four. AP Virginia Tech's Damon Watlington collides with Marquette's Anthony Pieper in overtime of Wednesday night's game. Zidek "I I haven't had anybody who was smarter than George Zidek, no sir. He's smarter than I've ever been.

He will play exactly like I tell him. 99 JIM HARRICK unique. He's 7-feet, 290. 1 think he has unbelievable touch. He can really shoot a turnaround jump shot.

He can catch the ball, even if it's a bad pass. That's what's really good about him. The guards feel comfortable throwing him the ball "I'm going to take it as a challenge, because everybody's going to say Reeves is the key to beating UCLA. In my mind, he's the best true big man, the best true low-post player, in the country. I've been really watching him in the past and trying to learn something from him, because he's been manhandling the opposition on the block." If the Bruins win Saturday, Zidek's father plans to fly here Sunday from Prague now part of the Czech Republic to watch the national championship game Monday.

That may not have been so whimsically done before the fall of communism. And if his father can't make it, he can at least watch on the satellite dish he bought last weekend. Some information was provided by wire services and writers in other cities. "He taught me to overcome my athletic inabilities," said Zidek, nicknamed "The Terminator" not for a mean streak but for his accent. "All the other UCLA players are so gifted athletically if you put me with them on a track, or in a jumping contest, it's going to be a shame for me.

"But he gave me confidence that basketball is more than just jumping and running up and down. It's about position and being smart, knowing where and when to push, and where to get leverage." Zidek, in fact, applies that leverage everywhere. He is an Academic Ail-American with a grade-point average of 3.77 on a 4.0 scale. His mother, who died of cancer several years ago, was a doctor. His older brother, who is 6-11, is a doctor.

"A very tall doctor," Zidek said. "His patients don't argue with him." As opposed to his half-brother. "He is 3 years old," Zidek said. "He is very short." UCLA coach Jim Harrick says Zidek's mind is the key to his success. "I haven't had anybody who was smarter From page one UCLA, trying to attract a scholarship offer.

But Zidek was the one who stood out, literally, even if he was ungainly. UCLA telephoned, a call Zidek says he remembers precisely. "I guess he thought I spoke no English, because he spoke very slowly, saying he was calling from 'U One aspect that has been consistent, though, is that Zidek's arrival at UCLA was not auspicious. "When I came here," Zidek said, "people were just wondering if I was a football player, a basketball player, or a professional eater." He added: "I couldn't play. Let's face it.

I was overweight, and I didn't have any skills." Zidek, though, did have a healthy pedigree. A fiendish work ethic runs in the family. His father, Jiri, 6-9, once was considered the best player in the country and is a coach by profession. than George Zidek, no sir," Harrick said. "He's smarter than I've ever been.

He will play exactly like I tell him. He won't deviate from the game plan. When you tell him one time, it's like it goes into a computer." Zidek has been programming himself to take on Reeves, a role model, for several years. "Big Country is kind of his measuring stick has been since Zidek got here," UCLA assistant coach Mark Gottfried said. "That's the guy he's always looked to.

I'm sure he will be mentally ready to play." Zidek said: "I don't think there's any other Big Country in the country. He's quite Mercer The Final Four all," Smith said. "Every day, I'm answering questions about Ron Mercer." Heaven on earth, Mercer figures, is where nobody knows his name. He has visited. "People don't know that I like helping out other people, especially kids," Mercer said.

"I really love kids about 9 or 10, kids who maybe need someone's help. When I was in my other high school back home, we visited a lot of orphanages and homes of disabled kids. Just seeing them smile when we all walked in, that was better than any other feeling I can remember." They didn't smile because they wanted the autograph of The Best High School Player In America. "They didn't know who I was, or any of the other people I was with," Mercer said. "They just knew we were people who cared enough to visit and spend some time with them.

Those kids don't know I play basketball. That's another thing that made it so great." If those kids would have peeked up his sleeve at that upper left arm, they might have wondered. They might have found out their tall visitor would walk on a red carpet in Lexington if he just said yes to Kentucky coach Rick Pitino or in Knox-ville if he said yes to Tennessee coach Kevin O'Neill. Normal kids aren't sleeping fitfully trying to decide whether to play ball at Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miami or Vanderbilt. Normal kids don't have Mercer's gaudy tattoo or the magnificent open-court scoring abilities that belie just how deeply the game is etched into his life.

"Everybody has their own thing they can do," Mercer said. "I play basketball." But he's among them. And that's the biggest reason he winced at the thought of missing his mom's cooking for an entire school year and hauled off to Virginia. Mercer had no clue that his life would come to this when he was a sophomore, when he started playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball and touring the country's best camps that summer. By last summer, recruiting experts called him the best player in his age group.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Del Harris watched him play in a Florida tournament and gushed: "He's the best young player I've seen since Oscar Robertson." By then, the attention had worn out its welcome with Mercer. He couldn't go shopping or to movies or to other area basketball games without having to sign autographs or smile for a camera. "I wanted to get away for a while," Mercer said. "I just want to be a normal kid. I want to be like everybody else." Maybe he thought he'd be a nobody at Oak Hill.

And that might have happened if he hadn't played so well. But he was the most valuable player in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic around Christmas. In the semifinals against Inglewood (Calif.) High, he had 29 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Cameras and hometown reporters showed up at his road games. He started signing autographs for Virginia fans in malls, at movies Smith has coached 11 McDonald's All American players in only 10 seasons at Oak Hill.

Still, he marvels at what has happened to Mercer. "He's already experienced the kind of attention as a high school senior that you usually wouldn't get until you're a college senior if you ever get it at From page one This is his life. Tattoos are forever, you know. "I know," Mercer said. "Basketball is a part of me." Basketball is one of the chief reasons that Mercer left his home near Nashville, last summer and his friends in the senior class at Good Pasture High School.

His quest took him to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va. "He wanted to get away," said Oak Hill coach Steve Smith, who also is Mercer's coach on the McDonald's East squad. "As a senior, he wanted to be pushed as a basketball player. Good Pasture is a small school, a Class A team. We play a national-type schedule.

"If he had stayed home, he would have leveled off as a player to a spot just above those other players. But with us, he has improved in so many ways." Mercer's classroom work landed him on the honor roll. His dedicated work on the court, such as 200 extra jump shots after practice every day, brought him honors as well. He scored almost 26 points a game for Oak Hill, which went 31-3, and won the Naismith Male Prep Player of the Year award. That's not the only national player of the year plaque a guy can collect.

Stephon Marbury and Kevin Garnett have heard their share of praise, too. So maybe Mercer isn't the only guy who could legitimately tattoo "The Best" on his right shoulder. (All games on KMOV, Channel 4) SATURDAY'S GAMES Semifinals Oklahoma State (27-9) vs. UCLA (29-2), 4:30 p.m. North Carolina (28-5) vs.

Arkansas (31-6), 7:10 p.m. MONDAY'S GAME Championship, 7:40 p.m. NOTE: St. Louis times Event: McDonald's All American High School Basketball Game. Tipoff: 11:30 a.m.

Sunday at Kiel Center. Tickets: $5, $10, $1 Sand $9 Auailahlo at Kiel box office, all Tickets Now outlets, or by calling Dialtix at 291-7600. Ex-Card Moore Remembered As 'Greatest Defensive Center Fielder' 1 Full Name: Terrence Bluford Moore Born: May 27, 1912, Vernon, Ala. over. He told Terry, 'That's your job from now Moore could placate and help older and younger players alike.

But he had come to the big leagues in 1935, when the Cardinals' roster still included Gas House Gang names such as Dizzy Dean and Pepper Martin. Though he missed three seasons because of World War II, Moore taught the players of the 1940s that same attitude. "I remember when we'd play the Brooklyn Dodgers, Terry never would let me go to the other dugout and talk to my brother, Dixie," Harry Walker said. "Terry said we could be friends and brothers after the game. But they were the enemy on the field.

"That was fine with me. I thought the world of Terry Moore. I named my son after him." Slaughter flew to St. Louis from his home in North Carolina on Thursday. He and Moore first played together in 1937, and they played on Cardinals world champs in '42 and '46.

But their friendship went beyond the field. "He was my captain, and when he retired in 1948, I became captain and tried to do things the same way he had," Slaughter said. "We were roommates. He would come to North Carolina, and we fished and hunted together. "Right now, I knew this was where I needed to be." Visitation for Moore, 82, will be from 4-9 p.m.

today at Herr Funeral Home, 501 West Main Street in Collinsville. A funeral service will begin at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. watched another big push for his election fall short again this year. Teammates recalled that Moore was as vital to the development of such young Cardinals as he was in patrolling the outfield or providing some offense for the "St.

Louis Swifties" of 1942. "He was like a father to all the young guys," Kurowski said. "Terry was our captain, and we all still called him that. He just made you feel at home." Moore the leader also had a way of making sure all the Cardinals knew what was expected of them on the field. "If you did something wrong, if you didn't run hard or give it everything you had, he let you know," Kurowski said.

"He would pinch the back of your neck when he would talk to you about certain things. That's when you knew he meant business." Harry "The Hat" Walker was a Cardinals rookie in 1940, probably Moore's best season. Moore, a career .280 hitter, batted .304 that season with 92 runs scored, 17 homers and 18 stolen bases. He committed only five errors and had a hand in four double plays. "The best outfielder I ever watched," Walker said.

"Willie Mays was more spectacular. But Terry did it every day, and did it very well. Great range, he knew how to play hitters, good arm, speed. "But his biggest value was that team leadership. Every manager used him.

I remember one time when Eddie Dyer was manager and was talking to some reporters, and he got mad and knocked a camera By Mike Eisenbath Of the Post-Dispatch Staff It's one thing to call Terry Moore "the greatest defensive center fielder I ever saw." Enos Slaughter said it Thursday. So did Harry Walker and Whitey Kurowski, former Cardinals teammates who remembered Moore after he died Wednesday. It's another thing to back it up. Slaughter talked about a game against the New York Giants. The Giants had the bases loaded and two outs when Mel Ott, a dangerous pull hitter, went the other way with a surprising drive to left center.

"Terry slid out there and won the game with a catch barehanded," Slaughter said. "Then there was the game on Aug. 11, 1941, when Pittsburgh was playing us in St. Louis. I hit a home run off Rip Sewell to win the first game of the doubleheader.

In the next game, I thought I had a chance to catch a ball in right center and all of a sudden I saw Terry sliding at me. I jumped over him, and he caught the ball between my legs. "I broke my collarbone on that play. I had to stay home from our road trip to Boston, and while the team was there, Terry got hit on the head with a pitch. That's how some spots opened on the big-league roster to make room for minor-leaguers Stan Musial, Whitey Kurowski and Erv "Four Sack" Dusak." Musial, Moore and Slaughter went on to form one of the best outfields in baseball history.

Musial and Slaughter are members of the Hall of Fame. Moore Regular Season AB 2B 3B HR RBI Avg. 1935 St. Louis 119 456 63 131 34 3 6 53 .287 1936 St. Louis 143 590 85 156 39 4 5 47 .264 1937 St.

Louis 115 461 76 123 17 3 5 43 .267 1938 St. Louis 94 312 49 85 21 3 4 21 .272 1939 St. Louis 130 417 65 123 25 2 17 77 .295 1940 St. Louis 136 537 92 163 33 4 17 64 .304 1941 St. Louis 122 493 86 145 26 4 6 68 .294 1942 St.

Louis 130 489 80 141 26 3 6 49 .288 1946 St. Louis 91 278 32 73 14 1 3 28 .263 1947 St. Louis 127 460 61 130 17 1 7 45 .283 1948 St. Louis 91 207 30 48 11 0 4 18 .232 Totals 1,298 4.700 7191,318 263 28 80 513 .280 World Series AB 2B 3B HR RBI Avg. 1942 St.

Louis. 5 17 2 5 1 0 0 2 .294 1946 St. Louis. 7 27 1 4 0 0 0 2 .148 Totals 12 44 3 9 1.0 0 4 .205.