THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 3, 1995 TAG: 9504030131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Those who remember when UCLA basketball success was identified with Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton may not want to believe that the team's title chances ride on the narrow shoulders of its smallest player.
It's true, though. If the Bruins are to be giants again, they will need another towering performance tonight from baby-faced point guard Tyus Edney.
``Tyus is the man,'' teammate Charles O'Bannon said Sunday. ``He's the key to our ignition. Without him, our car wouldn't start. Without him, we'd need a jumper cable.''
Without him, the Bruins might not get the ball past halfcourt against Arkansas' running, jumping, trapping, bumping defense.
Apparently, Edney will play tonight, despite a tender right wrist injured in the semifinal victory over Oklahoma State. Sunday, X-rays were negative, as Edney was off receiving therapy.
``It's negative,'' said UCLA coach Jim Harrick, ``but it hurts. It might limit what he can do well.''
Which is precisely what Arkansas hopes to do.
``Edney's a great player, but we're going to guard him,'' said Razorbacks coach Nolan Richardson. ``We're going to play team defense against him.''
Harrick expressed no concern.
``There really hasn't been anybody the last two years who can contain him,'' he said of his senior ballhandler.
Arkansas, Harrick acknowledged, ``has big, strong athletes that always seem to have their hands and arms around you and on you a little bit.''
The Hogs will attempt to manhandle and strong-arm Edney. But first, they will have to catch him.
``They don't know,'' said Bruins forward Ed O'Bannon, ``that we've got the fastest player in the country.''
Only because Edney was fast enough to beat the clock for the winning basket against Missouri is UCLA even here.
And against another running team, Connecticut, it was little Tyus, all 5-foot-10, 150-pounds of him, who led the way for the Bruins. In that game, he outraced time again, hitting a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
Against Oklahoma State, Edney took over in the late going, driving for key baskets against the Cowboys' barbed-wire defense.
``To be 6-foot and under, you have to be exceptional to play Division I high-level college basketball,'' Harrick said.
Harrick tells a story about the time Edney, then a freshman, came to the attention of John Wooden on a day when the Wizard attended practice.
``I was standing out there running fast break drills,'' recalled Harrick. ``He looked at me and said, `Come here a minute.' I'm not sure he even knew Tyus' name. But he says, `That little guy sees the floor better than anybody you have.' Right then and there, I knew he was a little bit special.''
Still, even a healthy Edney might not be enough to get UCLA past Arkansas, a team so good and fortunate it can't even manage to beat itself.
The Hogs' helter-skelter play is designed to wear down teams not as strong and deep. Ask North Carolina.
``He plays 10 and we play seven,'' Harrick said. ``If that's the difference then we'll probably get beat. But I think seven is enough.''
In support of UCLA, the Bruins have a way of scoring in spectacular fashion. Most of their baskets, it seems, are highlight material.
Edney drives the car as well as anyone in college basketball. But, against Arkansas, can UCLA hold the curves?
``Arkansas will give you lots of looks at the basket,'' said Harrick, ``but it's at a scurrying pace.
``You can watch all the film you want and if you can tell what they're doing, you're Houdini. I can't tell what they're doing.''
Sounds like if there's a wizard at UCLA today, his name is Tyus Edney, the key to UCLA's car, the key player in tonight's track meet. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press color photo
Tyus Edney, left,...and coach Jim Harrick...
by CNB