Evening star., 1941-02-03
Travelling Hoyds
Play Big Part in
East's Strife
Comparatively Mild
Week Brings Many
Ups and Downs
BY HUGH S. FULLERTON, JR.,
Associated Press Sports Writer.


NEW YORK, Feb. 3-Februarv
may be just the shortest month Of
the year to some folks, but to the
thousands Cor is it Millions of peo-
pie who take their college basket ball
seriously it can seem interminably
long
For February is the time when the
teams settle down to serious busi-
ness after examination time and
any night may ruin some ones hopes
of winning a championship of some
sort-from that of a small confer
enCe to the national title And at
the same time some of the UNDER
dogs figuratively are holding their
breaths in hope that the leaders
will slip and give them a chance.
They got a few tastes of what's
to come during the last week, when
schedules were comparatively light,
and with nearly every section re-
turning to full-time play this week,
further changes are indicated.
Last week Indiana lost its Big
Ten lead to Wisconsin,: the last
place st. Louis University team
knocked Oklahoma A and NJ. out
of the Missouri Valley lead, allow
ing Creighton to take over; Florida
moved into the Southeastern Con-
ference lead as Auburn fell by the
wayside; Washington State replaced
Washington as pace-setter in the
Northern division Of the Pacific
Coast Conference and Stanford suf-
fered its first defeat in the South
ern division although it held first
place.
Leading Independents Beaten.
In addition Rhode Island State
and Toledo, two prominent "inde-
pendents," suffered their first de-
feats of the season. Rhode Island
losing. 42-38, to Temple Friday and
Toledo 41-28, to Western CMich)
State Saturday. Oklahoma took
the undisputed lead in the Big Six
by beating Kansas State, while Kan
sas was idle. Dartmouth in the
Eastern League. North Carolina in
the Southern Conference. Arkansas
in the Southwest and Utah in the
Big Seven held their places, with
Dartmouth and Arkansas remaining
out of conference competition.
Starting the February free-for-all
here are the immediate prospects:
East-three league games Satur-
day pit Dartmouth against Prince
ton, beaten by Yale in its league
debut; runner-up Cornell against
Pennsylvania and Harvard against
Columbia. Seton Hall, leader Of
the undefeated brigade, which in
cludes Baltimore U. and Wesrmin-
ster pa, has no trouble in sight.
Long Island University, George
town, Villanova and Rhode Island,
also rated at the top or very near
it, have more strenuous programs.
L. I. U. meets the strong Duquesne
team in the feature of a Madison
Square Garden double-header Sat-
urday; Georgetown faces Syracuse,
Colgate and Yale on a road tour,
Villanova encounters Wake Forest,
while Rhode Island takes on Wayne
of Detroit and Brown. Other top
fight independents include New
York University, St. Johns of
Brooklyn, La Sale. Temple. Loyola
Baltimore. George Washington
and Penn State.
Wisconsin Back in Action.
Midwest-Wiscons which went
to the top Of the Big Ten when Pur-
due Knocked off Indiana, 4O-36, ends
two weeks Of idleness with a non
conference game against Butler Sat-
urday. Meanwhile Indiana takes
on Ohio State tonight and Illinois,
tied with the Hoosiers for second,
meets Purdue and then Minnesota.
Notre Dame, which appears the
best of the independents after To-
ledo's defeat, takes on North Dakota
and Northwestern, while Toledo
essays a comeback against De Paul
Wednesday in a Chicago double
header, which includes Temple
Loyola.
Nebraska's charge from last to
third place has been the high spot
in the Big Six during the mid-year
siesta, but the Huskers are idle this
week while Oklahoma gets chance
to stretch its lead against Iowa
States skidding favorites Saturday
after a midweek tuneup against
Oklahoma A and M
The AggieS meet Washington Uni
versity tonight in a bid to regain
the Missouri Valley lead, while
Creighton'S Blue Jays faced Tulsa
Wednesday and st. Louis Saturday.
Southwest-After two weeks of
idleness, broken by a victory over
Pittsburg Kans) Teachers, 'Arkan-
sas returns to Southwest Conference
action with two home games against
third-place Baylor, Conqueror of
Texas Christian in last weeks only
(See FULLERTON, Page A-15O