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From our wire services didn't belong in the NCAA tourney, but I knew we INDIANAPOLIS In a state where were among the top 48 teams in the country after ' ' ranks with corn and steel as the land's primary the way we played the second half of the season. resources, college basketball begins its final The Bruins will have to continue to play that countdown today to crown a national champion. kind of ball if they wish to beat Purdue and tow-

7-foo- Ail-Ameri- With the NCAA's movable feast reduced to a Fi- ering , its t-l can nal Four, hotel rooms are at a premium and . scalpers are reportedly peddling tickets as high as "The only player on the West Coast that com- $300 a pan. And in a city long associated with auto pares to Joe Barry performs for the Los Angeles racing as well as basketball, the 500 has tempo- Lakers," said Brown, in an obvious reference to rarily been" displaced by the NCAA's yearly ex- Kareem Abdul-Jabba- r. travaganza. Carroll has lived up to his All-Amer- ica billing Part of the hoopla is over the UCLA Bruins, a in this tourney, leading the Boilermakers to the team that came into the NCAA basketball playoffs Mideast Regional championship with victories virtually through the back door and has blown into over La Salle, St. John's, Big Ten champion India- town with every intention of tiptoeing out the front na and Duke, the Atlantic Coast Conference tour- door of the Market Square Arena with the NCAA nament winner. championship trophy. Meanwhile, , the Woot-- 4 All-Amen- ca, This year, however, the Bruins are in an unfa- is not interested in turning the tourna- Cinderella miliar position Cinderella instead of favorite. ment into his own personal show, much like Michi- "We've dominated the NCAA tournament the gan State's Earvin Johnson did last year. Griffith last 15 years, and we have a responsibility to play is more concerned with leading his fourth-ranke- d well here," said UCLA Coach Larry Brown as his Louisville Cardinals to its first NCAA champion- UCLA tries on young, enthusiastic team prepared to meet Pur- ship. The rest, he says, all will come later. due in the national semifinals today at 3 pjn. "I'd like to turn it to the Louisville show, not In the other semifinal game at the Market just for myself," Griffith said after Friday's Square Arena, Louisville will face Iowa at 12:24 workout at Market Square Arena. "Whatever hap- its new slipper pjn. (both on KOMU Channel 8).- - pens, well, that will come afterward." An llth-liou- r choice by the NCAA selection com- Griffith is expected to be a high choice in the pro mittee for this 42nd tournament, the Bruins have draft this spring. He flirted with the idea of turn- proven then-- worth with four playoff victories thus ing professional before this season but resisted the far, including one over top-rank- ed DePaul. temptation with the hope of reaching the Final against Purdue "I first realized we could get to the Final Four Four. after we beat DePauL" said Rod Foster, one of "I defintely thought about it (turning pro). It en- two freshman guards in the UCLA lineup. "After tered my mind. But I'made the decision to stay," we beat Ohio State, I realized we could win it all." he explained. "It's everyone's dream to get to the' in semifinals Old Dominion and Clemson, in the West Region- Final Four." al finals, were the other UCLA victims in the Louisville will have to contain a another poten- Bruins' charge to Indianapolis. tial high NBA draft pick in Iowa's , It's been a long and winding road to the Final who has shaken off a knee surgery to come back Four for UCLA, and one not without bumps. to lead the Hawkeyes into the NCAA tourney. Not only did the Bruins not win the Pac-1- 0, but "Any comparison is fine with me. Griffith is a y finished a dismal fourth in their league and lost reaTgood ballplayer," said Lester, whose team nine games overall. Their 17-- 9 record did little to was 15--1 this year when he was in the lineup. recommend themfora tournament berth. "I've seen him play on television, video tapes. "(But) once the Bruins were in, nobody wanted He's a hell of a player," Griffith said. "I was sor--, them in their region," Dave Gavitt of the NCAA rytosee him get that knee injury." selection committee said with a grin. "Then they "I'm not worried about how to play him. We've . were treating them like the ." been practicing that all week," said Iowa's Kenny CHtakekato AD-Ameri- And they've been playing that way of latei too. Arnold who has draws the unenviable task of Purdue's ca star Joe Barry Carroll is about to slam one "I guess we're not in such dire straits as some guarding Griffith. "I expect them to post him up a through during Friday's practice at IhdiaaapoKs, Market Sqoare , people thought," said Brown, who is in his first Arena in preparation for today's NCAA semifinal game With tfee year as the Brains' coach. "Some people felt we have help from the othergqys." UCLA Brains.