Frequent Flyers Abound at the Great Eight

CHICAGO —  It is--in this made-for-TV era--a traveling roadshow for the top college basketball teams before conference play begins.

The show has stopped at the United Center for two nights of the Great Eight Classic. On Tuesday, No. 1-ranked Connecticut beat No. 15 Washington, 69-48, and No. 8 and defending national champion Kentucky beat No. 7 Kansas, 63-45.

Tonight it is Utah, NCAA finalist and ranked No. 21 this season after a 3-2 start, playing Rhode Island, the only unranked team. Then No. 4 Duke faces No. 9 Michigan State.

Even if most of these teams are ranked, most of Tuesday’s basketball was inelegant. This is what happens when teams travel the world instead of staying home to practice.

Washington had arrived for Tuesday’s game on Monday, after a 4,299-mile flight from Hilo, Hawaii. By the time Washington reaches Seattle again, it will have been on a 7,000-mile trip.

If revenge over Connecticut, which defeated Washington, 75-74, last year in the NCAA East Regional semifinals, was a motivation, jet lag seemed to be the only condition able to affect Washington’s play Tuesday night.

Kansas, which travels to the Arrowhead Pond for Saturday’s Wooden Classic, had come here from Springfield, Mass., and the Tip-Off Classic. Kentucky had arrived from Puerto Rico and victory over UCLA in the Puerto Rico Shootout.

OK, Connecticut had played four home games, ridiculously easy home games, which explains why the Huskies (5-0) are ranked No. 1. But it was Connecticut that made excuses Tuesday night after a victory that appeared resounding but was ugly and filled with turnovers (41 for both teams) and missed shots (68 between the two teams).

And the excuse? Slippery balls, according to Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun and forward Richard Hamilton, who had a game-high 17 points. See what happens when you stay home? They go and slip you slippery balls.

Although the Washington Huskies did not use jet lag as an excuse, it might not have been a bad idea.

After a first half of lethargy and ennui on the part of both teams, one in which Connecticut led, 35-27, Washington (4-1) managed to pull within a point, 40-39, with 15:59 left. Besides that, UConn’s roly-poly point guard Khalid El-Amin was on the bench with four fouls and a scowl. He had collected his third personal with less than a second left in the first half because El-Amin pretended no one was in his way as he drove for a layup. Except the entire Washington team was in the way and most of them tumbled like bowling pins as El-Amin rolled on through.

The fourth foul was a silly hack, unnecessary and enraging to Calhoun, who said unprintable things to El-Amin as the sophomore sat down on the bench.

And how much did Connecticut miss its leader while he was on the bench? Washington was left feeling it was back in Hilo as the Big East Huskies put up a 20-2 run and erased any suspense while taking a 60-41 lead.

El-Amin was a cheerleader and Washington Coach Bob Bender said that the difference between this Connecticut team and the one that edged Washington in March was depth. And experience. And athleticism.

“They have the kind of depth where getting a guy like El-Amin in foul trouble was not a big deal,” Bender said.

“Losing El-Amin didn’t make any difference to them at all,” Washington senior Donald Watts said, almost in awe. Watts noticed that “all of those guys are great athletes and even without El-Amin they were still able to throw out a lot of quickness and athleticism at us.”

Kentucky (6-1) threw a lot of everything at the Jayhawks (4-1). A lot of poise, court awareness, quickness, shooting and rebounding.

Incredibly, in the 21 games between these two storied programs, Kentucky has won 18.

By halftime the Wildcats led, 41-22. Kentucky had made 17 of its 32 shots (53.1%) and Kansas had made seven of 28 (25%).

When Eric Chenowith (12 points), a 7-foot sophomore from Villa Park, tipped in a Kansas miss with 11:30 left in the game, the Jayhawks pulled within 51-41. A Lester Earl free throw two minutes later made it 51-42, but the Jayhawks, rebuilding after the loss of NBA first-round draft picks Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce, could never get closer. Kansas made only one field goal in the final 11 1/2 minutes.