Friday, February 6, 1998
Ducks bomb Bruins with three-pointers
MBASKETBALL: Oregon’s last-minute strategy sends UCLA into
defeat
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 6 UCLA men’s basketball team fell at the
Pit Thursday night, succumbing to Oregon’s bombardment of
three-pointers.
In the last seven minutes of the game, the Ducks made six of
seven three-pointers and connected on 14 of 15 free throws to win
97-81 before a raucous crowd of 9,087. This was the third loss in
four years at McArthur court for the Bruins (17-4 overall, 7-3
Pac-10).
"When you play at a court like Mac court, you don’t like to
lose," Duck senior Henry Madden said.
"It’s their world series, their national championship," UCLA
senior Kris Johnson said. "Now they have something to tell their
grandkids – they beat UCLA and I’m sure they’re hyped about it. But
we just have to bounce back, think about Oregon State and not dwell
on it, but it’s one of the hardest losses to take."
Both teams were even throughout most of the game. The two teams
went into halftime tied at 40. In the second half, neither team
could put together a substantial lead. Then with 6:37 to go,
Oregon’s Terik Brown sank a three pointer to put the Ducks (9-10,
4-6) up 65-63.
Little did the Bruins know that that was just the tip of a very
large iceberg. Brown would make two consecutive three-pointers, but
UCLA would still be in the hunt trailing only by one.
Then it was Duck sophomore Yasir Rosemond’s turn. The 35-second
clock was down to one and Rosemond trapped in a corner with Baron
Davis at his feet, he threw in a three-pointer to give Oregon a
four point lead with 4:33 left. He would connect again from beyond
the arc and this time extend the lead to five.
Jamar Curry would connect on UO’s sixth consecutive
three-pointer giving Oregon a six-point lead with 2:37 to go. The
Bruins would repeatedly foul in an attempt to get the ball back,
but the Ducks barely missed from the free-throw line in the waning
minutes.
"Just down the stretch, they just started making plays hitting
big threes," Johnson said. "We just had a defensive breakdown – a
team defensive breakdown, you can’t blame one guy. It was
everybody’s fault. If we play good D, we beat them."
When the two teams met at Pauley Pavilion earlier in the season,
UCLA came out strong and lead by 19 with 19:09 left, but there
would be no such start for the Bruins in Eugene. Though UCLA shot
53.8 percent in the first half, the Bruins could not keep the Ducks
off the offensive boards.
Of Oregon’s 16 rebounds, 11 of them were on the offensive
glass.
"We just didn’t have a lot of energy," J.R. Henderson said. "But
I don’t like to make excuses, you know the other team played a
terrific game."
Johnson led the Bruins in scoring with 21 points, while Brown
had 22 points for the Ducks. Oregon had a total of 12
three-pointers.