Friday, February 6, 1998
UCLA must beat Beavers to stay in race
MHOOPS: Another loss could dash team’s hopes of Pac-10
championship
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The No. 6 UCLA men’s basketball team will continue its trek
through the Willamette Valley and head to Gill Coliseum on Saturday
afternoon.
The Bruins will tip-off against Oregon State and attempt to get
a split on the road.
With the 97-81 Thursday loss to Oregon, the Bruins (17-4
overall, 7-3 Pac-10) need to win in Corvallis if they are to keep
pace with Arizona in the Pac-10 scramble and retain any hope of
winning their fourth-straight conference title.
The Wildcats remain undefeated in conference after drubbing
Washington 112-81 on Thursday.
"It’s going to be hard to win it (the Pac-10 championship),
obviously," said J.R. Henderson, who as a member of UCLA’s senior
class has only experienced winning the conference crown.
The Beavers are hoping to make it even harder for the
Bruins.
But while UCLA is vying to sit atop the league, Oregon State
(12-10, 2-8) are just trying to stay out of the conference
cellar.
In their first meeting, the Bruins handily defeated OSU 90-72.
UCLA held Beaver star Corey Benjamin to only 14 points.
And for the second encounter of the year, the sophomore guard
will again be the focus of the Bruin defense.
Benjamin leads Oregon State with 19.5 points per game and 5.0
boards.
"(On our team) different people on different nights have to step
up as opposed to Oregon State where it’s going to be Corey Benjamin
having to score 35 points in order for them to win," UCLA head
coach Steve Lavin said.
Well, not quite 35. Benjamin led all Beavers with 33 points
against Southern Cal on Thursday night helping OSU defeat the
Trojans 83-74 in overtime.