Tuesday, February 17, 1998
Bruins barely hang on to defeat Berkeley
M.BASKETBALL: UCLA secures third-place in Pac-10 despite having
problems holding leads
By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
It was just over one month ago that the No. 12 UCLA men’s
basketball team and the University of California squared off for
the first time this season. After that game, anyone who witnessed
the Bruins’ 84-81 victory on Saturday in Pauley Pavilion probably
thought they had seen a replay of the January victory instead of a
new iteration.
There was the sluggish play on both sides of the ball, with the
two teams combining for 36 turnovers.
There was the inability of either team to hold a lead, with the
Bruins continually finding ways to let the Bears back into the game
late in the second half.
And, just like January, there was UCLA (19-5 overall, 9-4
Pac-10), up by three points in the game’s waning seconds, hoping a
last-second Cal shot would miss, and notching another victory when
it did.
"Both games didn’t really have a natural flow or rhythm," UCLA
Head Coach Steve Lavin said. "Neither team was playing really well,
and it was down to the wire. I don’t think either coach will be
pleased with the execution or the defense. I’m just glad that we
could get the win."
After letting the Bears scramble back to within one point in the
game’s final two minutes, the Bruins were clinging to a tenuous
three-point lead with three seconds left after senior Kris Johnson
hit a pair of free throws.
On the inbounds play, Cal’s Geno Carlisle, who notched a
career-high 31 points on the day, shook off a triple team to launch
a three pointer that bounced out as time expired.
"(Carlisle) didn’t pass it, he chose to shoot it when there was
three guys on him," senior J.R. Henderson said. "I’ve got to say,
it looked like it was going in. Thankfully, it didn’t."
Johnson’s free throws in the final 10 seconds of the game not
only provided the winning margin, but put the final touches on one
of his finest outings of the season.
His 28-point effort, which came on the heels of an abysmal
shooting night against Stanford on Thursday, matched his season
high and was the most recent chapter in his history of excellence
against Cal (9-12, 5-7). As a sophomore, Johnson rang up a career
high 36 against the Bears, and he scored 23 when the two teams met
earlier this year.
"My shooting touch is always there, it’s just a matter of me
getting my legs into it. I was thinking about jumping on my shots
more," Johnson said. "It’s big for us to win this game because we
lost to Stanford, and it doesn’t feel good to lose two at
home."
While Johnson’s 28 paced the Bruins, Henderson’s 23 points,
including 11 free throws, helped give UCLA just enough to overcome
a spirited, if overmatched Cal team.
With Carlisle tossing in 31 on 11-22 shooting, and center Sean
Marks putting up 23 , despite dislocating a finger in the second
half, the Bears, who shot a combined 55.8 percent, were never short
of responses to UCLA’s offense.
In a seesaw second half, the Bruins repeatedly tried to pull
away, only to see the Bears come storming back, forcing the teams
to trade baskets in a vain effort at one-upmanship.
"We call that ‘brother-in-law defense,’ you score two, I score
two, we both look out for each other, try to get each other in the
box scores," Lavin said. "This was not a very pretty game,
basically, it was kind of an ugly game."
The victory, which solidified the Bruins’ hold on third place in
the Pac-10 conference, was also what would prove to be junior
center Jelani McCoy’s final game as a Bruin. In 13 minutes of play,
which was well below his season average of 22, McCoy posted only
four points and three rebounds.
JAIME SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Baron Davis, No. 5, goes for a lay-up in the narrow victory over
Cal.