Thursday, January 15, 1998
UCLA says no sweat to Cal match
M. BASKETBALL: Golden Bears’ toil for on-court perfection can’t
catch up to Bruins’ smooth run
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
"Under construction" are the key words for the University of
California this season.
The Golden Bears will play all their home games at the New Arena
in Oakland while their new Haas Pavilion is being built. But that’s
not all the rebuilding the Bears are doing this season.
Cal had an impressive season last year and even made it to the
Sweet Sixteen game in the NCAA Tournament. However, the players
that were instrumental in getting them there graduated in the
spring. Ed Gray and Michael Stewart are now selling their services
to the NBA while Tony Gonzalez is catching footballs for the Kansas
City Chiefs.
So when the No. 8 UCLA men’s basketball team (12-2 overall, 3-1
Pac-10) travels to the Bay Area to take on the Bears tonight, it
will face a team that is undergoing some renovations.
Cal (5-6, 1-2) will be looking to its lone senior, Sean Marks,
for leadership, points and rebounds. The 6-foot-11-inch forward
averages 8.6 points and 8.6 rebounds.
After losing their first four games, the Bears have won four of
their last six. A big reason for the turnaround is the arrival of
junior transfer Geno Carlisle.
The transfer from Northwestern became eligible to play on Dec.
22. Carlisle has earned a starting spot and averages 19.8 points.
In conference play, the 6-foot-3-inch guard has proven to be an
outside threat with a 60 percent shooting clip, including 52
percent from beyond the three-point line.
Though Cal boasts some big players inside with Marks and
6-foot-10-inch center Kenyon Jones, UCLA doesn’t look to change its
starting lineup to include junior center Jelani McCoy.
"Our team is just playing so well right now together," UCLA head
Coach Steve Lavin said. "Jelani would like to start, but he
understands that the team is doing well – we’ve won 12 of our last
13 games."
Despite suffering an eye injury in last Saturday’s Oregon game,
senior J.R. Henderson – who is the key to the Bruins so far – will
be all right for this weekend’s critical road games. On Saturday,
UCLA will face No. 7 Stanford (14-0, 3-0).
"J.R.’s (eyesight) is improved," Lavin said. "He said it felt a
lot better, but it’s still a little bit irritated."
Daily Bruin File Photo
Toby Bailey and the rest of the Bruins head to Oakland to face
California tonight.