Wildcat State Weber The Basketball team enjoyed one of their finest — and certainly most in December’s — interesting history. The ’Cats compiled a fine 73 record, logged over 9,800 miles, and picked up first-place hardware Evansville prestigious in the Holiday Tournament. The bulk of the mileage came during the first ten days of the month as the Wildcat cagers played a four-game swing through the Hawaiian Islands. The record shows a 2-2 split, with a pair of losses to a very powerful University of Hawaii team and two wins over smaller college competition. Accompanied by a large group of Alumni and fans, the Wildcats took the opportunity to learn to play together as a team, and to get some good seasoning for the upcoming season. They also, of course, had an enjoyable time on the sparkling beach and in the beautiful tropical setting. Back at home, the Wildcats scored one of their biggest wins in history in an important game that found the University of Utah playing in Wildcat Gym for the first time. The Wildcats, losers of almost all their close games last season, showed a lot of poise to turn back against the University of Hawaii. THE WILDCATS big center, Al DeWitt, jumps high for a two-pointer the visitors by a single point, 88-87, in a heart-stopping overtime period. The Wildcats have been ‘‘new kid on the block’”’ since four-year ranks they entered the seasons several ago, but they have now played at the gyms of all three of their most established neighbors in the state, and have played host to Utah, Utah State, and Brigham Young as well. Regular scheduling each year is assured between the Wildcats and all their foes in the state, and it would appear that a giant hurdle toward athletic parity has been cleared. The Utah win was somewhat dampened when, four nights later, the Wildcats lost a close game at Provo to Brigham Young in a performance which Coach Neil McCarthy called the team’s poorest of the season. a2 +e The Wildcats went into the first round game at the Evansville Tournament as decided underdogs to the Austin Peay Governors, one of the finest teams in the country. The first five minutes made the handicappers look good, as the Wildeats fell quickly behind, 12-2, and couldn’t seem to get much going. Then, slowly andwithout panic, they started chipping away. Although they didn’t explode, they were steady and eventually caught, then passed Austin Peay to take a 10-point lead into the halftime locker room. Despite a couple of furious rushes by the opposition late in the game, the Wildcats again found their new poise and confidence, and held on to preserve a stunning three-point upset win which propelled them into the championship game. ‘\ _ JIMMIE WATTS, Weber State’s All-America candidate, scored a career _ high of 33 points in a recent game in Hawaii. ~- In the final contest against Mercer University of Macon, Georgia, the Wildcats jumped out early and held a comfortable lead throughout most of the game. With their backs to the wall late in the game, Mercer put a rush on the Wildcats and closed to within a single point. Last season it is likely that Weber would have panicked, but this year’s team is a different breed of cat. With poise and some excellent ball control and free-— throw shooting, Weber preserved a. well-earned seven-point victory. All-American Candidate Jimmie Watts was named ‘‘Most Valuable Player’”’ of the tournament for his pair of outstanding performances. | He also earned Big Sky player-ofthe-week laurels for his tournament achievements. Through the first ten games of the season, Watts is the leading scorer on the squad, averaging just a whisker under 20 points per game, and is the leading nearly 11 per rebounder contest. A with pleasant surprise is steady Bob Holgate, a junior college transfer, who is hitting over eleven points each game. The January schedule for the Wildeats is a challenging one. A return meeting with the revengeminded Utes in the Salt Lake wigwam starts the action, followed by the curtain raiser in conference play at home against Gonzaga and Idaho. Home-and-home games with conference foe Northern Arizona and a pair of road contests at the two teams favored No. 1 and No. 2 by the coaches,Idaho State and Boise State are also in the offing. If that weren’t enough, the schedule is spiced by a pair of excellent nonconference opponents visiting Wildcat Gym when Long Beach State comes to town on the 12th, and Oral Roberts, one of the nation’s top teams, pays a visit on the 15th.