The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 96

December 27. 19B7 7 TUB SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN Section College Basketball Kerr's Point Well-Taker? At Arizona TUCSON. Ariz. (AP) Not coincidentally, the HOOPS Has A Winning Program By Jim O'Connell AP Basketball Writer Somewhere Bob Knight was laughing. I imagined him in his office sitting-back and imirking.

Granted, it was just a computer basketball game was responsible for Knight's 1975-76 team los-ng for the first time. Still, I just knew he knew that a sportswriter yes, one of them had been coaching the team. The game used to defame one of the greatest teams in NCAA history is HOOPS, the product of our men, including Billy Packer, a long-time TV analyst, and Jeff Sagarin, the creator of college basketball and football computer rankings. HOOPS uses the actual statistics of the 428 teams available for you to coach. The stats are worked into a program based on table baseball games that have been popular for many years.

"Wayne Winston and I met at MIT and we both played those dice baseball games," Sagarin said of another of the men responsible, for the game. "He had developed a dice basketball game in the early 70s. It was real accurate but real boring because you rolled the dice a million times. "In 1981 we made cards with the Indiana team that won the national championship but it was still boring because of the dice," Sagarin said. "Wayne had someone write a program and the computer -played for you." The someone who wrote the program was Jim basketball fortunes of first-time-ever No.

1 Arizona have soared this season with the return to action of point guard Steve Kerr. Coach Lute Olson thinks Kerr "is the best point guard in the country" and for the second straight week, he was named Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week. Not bad for a kid nobody wanted five years ago. Not bad for someone who so badly tore knee ligaments 16 months ago in the World Championships games in Madrid, Spain, that one doctor immediately called it career-ending. But right in step for someone who has faced down obscurity, drama and adversity and whose winning personality and boy-next-door looks have made him the object of a citywide love affair.

Kerr had but one other scholarship offer, from Gonzaga University. Most schools considered him too slow. He and Olson both joke about his speed, and Kerr insists he's the only 6-3 guard in the country unable to dunk. But during his freshman year, Kerr came off the bench to hit five of seven field goals and score 15 points against arch-rival Arizona State only a few days after his father, Malcolm Kerr, was killed as -president of American University in Beirut, Lebanon. Fans at McKale Center began a tradition that continues, echoing the announcer's "Ste-eeve.

Kerrrrrrr!" after every basket he scores. He moved to point guard in 1985-86 and led Arizona to its fust Fa i chimmom-hm, on tain? all oiiferencp recognition. After his reconstructive knee surgery, Kerr went through a lengthy rehabilitation and brought himself along slowly for the first few-games this season, easing into his game. He and Olson insist he's quicker now than before the injury. TOrr was.

and remains, a shooter, though until Klopfenstein. When Packer, a former Wake Forest player, came aboard to handle the defensive ratings, the operation was ready to go in Bloomington, Tnd. The game, which sells for and is designed for IBM and IBM-compatible machines, has seen minor such as adding a fatigue factor and 3-point field goals. k. "The math core is still there," Sagarin said.

"The changes have all been cosmetic. It's now a well-dressed skeleton." Sagarin said the 64 NCAA tournament teams will be added to the program each year as well as the Top 100 from his ratings at the end of the season. Each game starts with the selection of starting lineups, defensive and offensive strategy and player matchups. Once that's done, a play-by-play appears on the screen giving detail such as: "Buckner misses from corner," "Benson travels," "Made layup nice pass from Wilkerson." A boxscore is kept by the computer and the game -can be stopped for substitutions, strategy changes and timeouts. That's where my problem came in.

My lineup was awesome Buckner, Wilkerson, Benson, May and Abernethy. I just didn't adjust to foul problems and the hot shooting of Texas the 1966 NCAA champion. When the game ended no, there isn't a buzzer it was Texas Western 107, Indiana 87. It didn't get any prettier a few minutes later my Indiana State team of 1978-79 lost to Kentucky's "Runts" of 1965-66, 97-92. However, even I 'couldn't stop Larry Bird from scoring 51 points and grabbing 25 rebounds.

two weeks ago, he thought he had been playing a. little tentatively. "I need to get out there and get some shots off," he said then. He did, and through tht- Wilder' first nine win? this year was shooting at a .626 clip with an 11.8-point average, hitting 36 of 57 two-pointers (.632) and 26 of 42 three-point tries He had hit of 12 free throws, had 38 assists, two rebounds a game, eight steals and 10 turnovers in 29 minutes per game. In a 66-59 win at then third-ranked Iowa, he played 40 minutes against a pressing defense without turning the ball over.

Olson credits Kerr's leadership abilities his heady play and steadying influence for the team's success, including other impressive wins over highly ranked Syracuse and Michigan last month. On Sunday, the Wildcats, prohibitive Pac-10 favorites, began league play with a 110-71 rout of Washington at Seattle. "I think we'd be a good team, but we wouldn't be as good a team as we are" without Kerr, said Olson. "There's no question we would not be undefeated, we could not have won at Iowa without him and I'm sure we couldn't have beaten Syracuse without him." Flying High Texas Christian's Rod Jacques slam dunks the ball for two poiints during first-half action against Grabbling Wednesday at the Daniel Myer Coliseum in Fort worm, Texas. 1 ne nornea r-rogs wem un iu w.

A Temple of Healing Bear Oil Works Wonders for Perry College Report Atlantic Athletic Conference, both win or lose and play each other on Dec. 31, it will be a long way from New York where the two schools are located less than 10 miles apart. By Jim O'Connell AP Basketball Writer Granger Hall graduated from Temple after the 1984-85 season, but he got a big assist in the Owls' victory over South Carolina last weekend. Tim Perry, Temple's "I told the team doctor, 'If that stuff keeps working, you're gone and we're bringing in the voodoo Temple coach John Chaney Penn has had a rough start to the season, going 1-5, with the only victory coming over La Salle, 66-61. The losses have been by an average of 29.4 points with the season-opening 96-75 defeat against Lehigh the closest.

The Quakers certainly can't be accused of ducking top teams as the other losses have been to Villanova (84-55), Cal-Irvine (90-66), UCLA (98-49) and Georgia Tech (79-55). Up next for the Ivy Leaguers: No. 13 Indiana in the opening starting center, had already missed one game and a week's worth of practice because of a strained right calf. He played against South Carolina after using some bear oil sent to him by Hall from Spain. Hall receives clippings about Temple's games from his mother while he is playing professionally in Europe.

When he read of Perry's injury Hall sent his mother a bottle of the oil which is manufactured by a doctor from India. The package arrived in Philadelphia from Spain through Clayton, N.J., and Perry used it Saturday. "There was a lot of soreness," Perry said of his leg after scoring 16 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking five shots while playing all 40 minutes. "But as the game went on I was able to get going. It was a physical game and the refs let us play." After the game, the bottle of bear oil sat in a bag in front of Perry's locker.

Granger sent was the 52nd in a row at home for the Jayhawks to extend the longest current such streak. It is quite an impressive number until you check the record. Kentucky won 129 consecutive games at home from Jan. 4, 1943 until Jan. 8, 1955 when Georgia Tech won at Kentucky, 59-58.

If Kansas, which last lost in Allen Field House on Feb. 22, 1984 when Oklahoma prevailed, 92-82, in overtime, wins its remaining 10 home games this year, it will be five short of being halfway to the record. Rhode Island coach Tom Penders faces his old employer, Fordham, in the opening round of the Chaminade New Year's Tournament in Hawaii on Dec. 30. After Penders' new-Rams play his old Rams, Manhattan meets the host school.

That means if Ford-ham and Manhattan, members of the it," Perry said. "His mom got it to me and I don't know if it worked but it didn't hurt, That's Granger." Temple coach John Chaney said changes would be made if Perry continued to perform as he did that night. "I told the team doctor, 'If that stuff keeps working, you're gone and we're bringing in the voodoo 0 Detroit's 63-59 loss at Bowling Green Monday night was its 20th consecutive defeat on the road. The Titans, 0-8 this season, have lost four road games this season, and that follows having lost all 13 road games last season when they finished 7-21. The last time Detroit left a visiting arena with a victory was in February 1986 when it beat Oral Roberts in Tulsa, 62-57, Detroit's third straight road victory.

Kansas' 110-72 victo-rv over Rider on Dec. 12 round of the Hoosier Classic on Dec. 28; No. 6 Temple on Jan. 6, and Notre Dame on Jan.

21. After those games, Penn plays only within the conference except for an intra-city meeting with St. Joseph's. St. Bonaventure beat Jacksonville, 83-60, Tuesday night in the opening round of the Gator Bowl Classic to hand the Dolphins their worst homecourt defeat since they lost 103-75 in 1977 to St.

Bonaventure, which has a three-game winning streak over Jacksonville. AP Lrphc first-half action of the Looking for Room Arizona State's Arthur Thomas begins a drive around Washington's Eldridge Recasner during game Tuesday at the Hec Edmonson Pavilion in Seattle. The Sun Devils went on to win 87-78..