Unlted Press International of the media, to debunk the notion that the pressure. "The last nine games he has really come Georgetown-Kentuck- y will be won or lost in "Beal is a primary concern of ours be- on," said Hall "He has played great for us. Coaches deny SEATTLE With just about everyone the middle. cause we extend our defense," said Thomp- His recovery has meant a lot to our ballclub. else fixated on the upcoming battle of the ti- "I think that Twin Towers business is cam- son. "He's become the leader of our team, the tans between All-Amenc- an ouflage," he said "(Kentucky) has more "He is something I'm concerned with an inspiration of our team, the spint of our NCAA semis and Kentucky's Twin Towers, Georgetown players than the Twin Towers. awful lot because if we can contain him then team He's the leader offensively and de- Coach John Thompson focused his worries "You always hear about the posi- we feel we are in a position to force some of fensively and he's done an excellent job." Wednesday on a little guy. tion, because those three players are excep- the size that Kentucky has on the front line to Houston and Virginia, the other two semi-fmalis- ts, are star wars The Final Four in Seattle's Kingdome Sat- tional. But you're going to have a good the perimeter a little bit more." met during the regular season with urday and Monday has one of the great col- Georgetown team playing against Kentucky Coach Joe B. Hall, who wasn't Houston winning 74-6- 5. But neither Virginia lections of big men in NCAA tournament his- a good Kentucky basketball team. There are scheduled to leave Lexington with his team Coach Terry Holland nor Houston's Guy Le- tory with Ewing, Houston's Akeem Olajuwon going to be other factors involved." until today, also had some problems with the wis think that game has any bearing on what and and Melvin Turpin of Ken- One of those factors, according to Thomp- characterization of the Wildcat-Hoy- a semifi- will happen Saturday. tucky on display. son, is Kentucky's exceptionally quick point nal as Ewing versus the Twin Towers. "The fact that it's an NCAA tournament

5-fo- Only Virginia, which lost Ralph Sampson guard, Dicky Beal. Beal, a ot-ll senior, "Georgetown has two big guys, too," he game takes precedence over everything last year, is without an expenenced, domi- was the main reason Kentucky was able to said, apparently referring to Georgetown's else," Holland said. nant inside game among the teams. handle Illinois' defensive pressure in their other big inside starter, Ralph Dalton. Lewis refuted the common belief that Vir- One semifinal matches No. 2 Georgetown Mideast final and he helped ensure the Wild- "So let's not pit Ewing against Sam Bowie ginia, which entered the NCAA tourney with and third-ranke-d Kentucky, while No. 5 cat win with a key drive and layup in the fi- and Melvin Turpin all by himself. They have only a 17-1- 1 record, was out of its depth with Houston takes on a seemingly overmatched nal minute. great inside support for Ewing." the other three teams in the Final Four. Virginia in the otherSaturday game. Beat's ball-handli- ng could prove to be Hall also had great praise for Beal, who "I just think it's going to be a good ball i Leave it to Thompson, who never seems to equally decisive in Kentucky's efforts to had to come back from off-seas-on knee sur- game," said Lewis, who's in the Final Four mind taking exception with the expectations counter Georgetown's well-know- n defensive gery and rehabilitation setbacks this year. for the third straight season."

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