UCLA wins Battle of Los Angeles, barely
Without Edney, m. hoops uses strong defensive
effort for a 73-69 win over cross-town rival USC
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
More than anything else, the buzzer that signified the end of
Thursday night’s basketball game between No. 7 UCLA and USC was
greeted by the Bruins with a sigh of relief.
UCLA (13-2 overall, 7-2 in the Pac-10) had escaped with a
hard-fought, 73-69 victory in front of 7,273 at the Sports Arena,
and the Bruins did it without starting point guard Tyus Edney, who
stayed home with a nasty case of the flu.
"It wasn’t very pretty, but we did what we had to do," UCLA head
coach Jim Harrick said. "It was a gutty performance by guys who
were playing without their leader.
"They wanted to win this one for Tyus because he’s won so many
for us over the years."
Edney was replaced in the lineup by sophomore Cameron Dollar,
who turned in a solid performance with nine points, five assists
and only one turnover.
Still, the effect of Edney’s absence was evident throughout,
especially in the first four minutes of the contest.
By the time the first official timeout was called, UCLA had
scored only two points and had already committed four turnovers.
USC, also with two points, was struggling as well, but the Trojans
found a groove over the next four minutes and staked a 12-7
lead.
The Bruins came back to lead at 19-17 and 23-22, but USC entered
the locker room at halftime with a 35-31 lead.
"It’s no secret that Tyus is the backbone of this team," said
UCLA forward Ed O’Bannon, who finished with a team-high tying 16
points. "We miss him dearly, but coming into this game we knew that
we had to suck it up and pick up the slack for his absence."
And with a stellar defensive effort in the second half, the
Bruins did just that.
After USC forward Lorenzo Orr, who finished with a game-high 22
points, opened the second half with a seven-foot hook shot that put
the Trojans up by six, UCLA went on an 8-0 run that prompted a USC
timeout.
The Trojans (7-12, 2-7) regrouped, and a three point shot by
guard Tyson Reuter regained a lead that would be extended to eight
points with 15:31 remaining.
"We had the perfect situation to go out there and beat them,
especially with Tyus out," Orr said. "He should be an All-American
this year, and when there’s an All-American candidate missing from
an opposing team, you have to try to capitalize on it.
"We tried, but we just didn’t get the victory."
The Bruins methodically cut USC’s lead to one point, and
O’Bannon’s layin with 5:38 remaining gave UCLA a 62-61 lead.
A George Zidek slam-dunk, a Charles O’Bannon jumper, and a Toby
Bailey tip-in brought the score to 68-61 with 1:31 remaining, but
Orr closed his team’s deficit to four points with three free throws
in two trips to the line.
The story of the game, though, was UCLA’s stifling defense. USC,
which shot 36.5 percent from the field on the game, was held
without a field goal for almost eight full minutes in the second
half.
The drought started after Stais Boseman connected on a three
point shot with 8:09 remaining and didn’t end until Orr threw down
a dunk with less than 14 seconds left on the clock.
"That scoreless stretch in the second half was a key moment,"
USC head coach Charlie Parker said. "We couldn’t score and we
allowed them to score.
"Once they got the momentum, we couldn’t stop it."
Orr’s dunk brought the Trojans to within six points, and after
Ed O’Bannon hit one of two free throws, USC’s Burt Harris hit a
three pointer that brought the score to 73-69 with 5.9 seconds
remaining.
The Trojans called a timeout, but couldn’t manage to score
again.