Thursday, March 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Considering what UCLA went through this year, coach Steve Lavin figures there's nothing Iowa State can do to shake up his team in the NCAA tournament Midwest Regional semifinal tonight at San Antonio.
"At one point this season, we were 3-3 and getting booed by our own fans at home," Lavin said. "We have a confident team, but not a cocky team."
Just before the season began, Lavin was entering his sixth year as an assistant on the Bruins' staff. On Nov. 6, he was named the Bruins' interim head coach after Jim Harrick was dismissed. On Feb. 11, he was named head coach.
"We have mental toughness, believe me," Lavin said. "We were down 16 points in two different games, down 5 with less than a minute to play, and down one with 4.2 seconds left and won. That builds confidence and mental toughness. Our confidence comes from a combination of things, including adversity."
UCLA has won 11 consecutive games and is now 23-7. The Bruins beat Charleston Southern 109-75 and took out Xavier 96-83 to advance to the Alamodome.
* MINNESOTA VS. CLEMSON: A little fine-tuning has made a big difference for Clemson's basketball team. The Tigers realized after losing to Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament that something wasn't right. Something was different about the way they played in the final weeks compared with how they played in starting the season 16-1. So the players and coaches met to talk things out. "The outcome of the discussion was that we needed to start playing more as a unit and be more aggressive as a unit," said Merl Code, a senior guard. "We've got to get back to being intense and giving everything we've got on every possession on the defensive end. That's something we had gotten away from." They have gotten back to it during the NCAA tournament, and tonight go against top-seeded Minnesota in the other Midwest Regional semifinal. Clemson, the fourth seed, is 23-9 while Minnesota is 29-3 and has won 14 of 15 games.
West Regional
* STANFORD VS. UTAH: Success on the basketball court is nothing new at Stanford. It's just usually accomplished by the Cardinal women, not the men. This year, both teams have advanced to the NCAA tournament's round of 16. While the women are making their 10th straight trip to the regional semifinals, it's a first for the men. The Stanford men won the 1942 NCAA title, but there were only eight teams in that tournament. So tonight's game against Utah at San Jose will be the first for the Cardinal men in the final 16. Utah's players said they expect Stanford to be the most physical team they've faced all season. "They beat up on you, they play tough," Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "We have to play through their aggressiveness and toughness."
* KENTUCKY VS. ST. JOSEPH'S: Kentucky's All-America forward, Ron Mercer, skipped practice, opting to soothe his sore back in the swimming pool. Guard Allen Edwards sat forlornly on the bench, a new and well-signed cast on his broken right foot. The best Wildcat on the floor Wednesday was Derek Anderson but he won't be playing tonight. Coach Rick Pitino ruled him out of NCAA tournament action so he can recover a little longer from knee surgery and boost his stock for the NBA. For all of Kentucky's aches and absences, the defending champion Wildcats still appear to have too much size, quickness and depth for St. Joseph's of Philadelphia in their matchup tonight in the other West Regional semifinal.
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