The game was ruled a cancellation, and neither school's record was affected. St. Joseph's, which beat Pennsylvania on Tuesday night in running its record to 6-5, had already postponed two games because of the weather.
To make a point, Martelli had his team show up Saturday at the Palestra and stage a mock game. It ended shortly after tipoff when Will Johnson made an, um, uncontested layup.
"Basically they thumbed their noses at us," Martelli said. "I wanted to turn around and do the same to them."
The controversy has spread to bitterness between the Pac-10 and Atlantic 10 conferences. Though there appears no avenue of recourse, an Atlantic 10 official says the conference backs St. Joseph's gripe "1,000%."
Temple Coach John Chaney was more blunt.
"If that was me, I would be on my way right now to Arizona to kick somebody's [butt]," he said.
Martelli won't want to hear this, but on Saturday, the day Arizona Coach Lute Olson was supposed to be in Philadelphia, he was reportedly in Orange County, watching a high school star, Villa Park's Eric Chenowith.
Martelli said the lost game, which was to have been televised on ESPN2, cost his young program valuable exposure. He was more outraged that Olson referred to the game as "insignificant" in Tucson papers.
"He has the audacity and arrogance to call the game insignificant?" Martelli asked.
What about phones?
"Just man to man, for that coach not to call here, we have a problem," Martelli said. "He has yet to call here. I called his office Friday. His secretary said he was unavailable. I said, 'Where is he, out digging snow?'
"She laughed. I said, 'This isn't funny.' "
Martelli retracted earlier remarks that he would refuse to play Arizona if the teams ever met in the NCAA tournament.
"I might play that game," he said. "But I have no interest in ever dealing with them again."
Arizona's side of the story?
An Arizona spokesman said the decision to cancel was a judgment call and said that the school had received calls from some players' parents, asking that the trip be canceled.
As for Arizona ever playing St. Joseph's in the NCAA tournament. . . .
"I hope the hell we get slotted against him first round NCAA tourney," the Arizona official said. "Because it means we'll be going to the second round."
LOOSE ENDS
Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom was quoted last week as saying that North Carolina's Smith was the greatest college basketball coach of all time. "I don't think there is any qualification," Odom told the Sporting News. "They can talk about all the others, but he is the best coach to coach the game."
Comment: The night Smith wins his 11th national championship--he has won two--he may be fitted for the best-ever crown. Until then, former UCLA Coach John Wooden is king.
Perhaps Odom forgot that little UCLA stretch of 10 national titles in 12 years back in the 1960s and '70s.
Key injuries have weakened what promised to be a competitive Pac-10 race. Stanford, 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference, has struggled without 7-foot-1 center Tim Young, out indefinitely because of a bulging disk in his back. Young, a sophomore, may not return this season. He looses his redshirt opportunity if he plays in another game and the Cardinal won't take that risk unless Young is 100%.
Kevin Eastman's Washington State team (8-4, 1-3) has not been a factor without star forward Mark Hendrickson, out because of a broken left hand, his shooting hand, suffered Dec. 27. Hendrickson, from Mount Vernon, Wash., will not play Sunday against Washington and is wait-and-see for the next week against Stanford and Cal.
Utah Coach Rick Majerus drove from Salt Lake City to Monday's game at San Diego State because of an inner-ear infection and acknowledged that the trip took longer than expected. "It takes a long time when I stop to eat," he said.
Clemson Coach Rick Barnes and North Carolina's Smith tried to be on their best behavior Sunday in their first encounter since their jaw-to-jaw in last year's ACC tournament. Even so, things got a bit testy at the Dean Dome. After Smith's Tar Heels had whacked the Tigers, 86-53, Barnes complained that his name had not been announced during pregame introductions.
Notre Dame has opened its first season in conference play with six consecutive defeats in the Big East.
Duke's Krzyzewski on his team's 0-4 start in the ACC: "We're not a program of excuses. This is where we're at. You have to earn winning."
