Monday, February 23, 1998
Strong shooting powers Blue Devils
M.BASKETBALL With Henderson in foul trouble, team can’t stop
Duke
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
DURHAM, N.C. — Well at least it wasn’t the worst loss this
season, but it was close.
The No. 12 UCLA men’s basketball team was routed on Sunday
afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium by No. 2 Duke, 120-84.
The Bruins (20-6) came out with intensity for the tough
non-conference matchup. Toby Bailey opened up the game blocking
Blue Devil Chris Carrawell’s shot. And J.R. Henderson slammed home
a pass from Baron Davis that seemed to state that, despite the loss
of center Jelani McCoy, the undermanned Bruins were not going to be
pushovers.
Bailey would hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and
UCLA would have the lead for the only time in the game after a
minute and a half of play. And then the Devils (25-2) showed why
they were No. 2 in the nation.
The next six minutes perhaps set the tone for the rest of the
game. Duke went on a 19-3 run and extended its lead to 13, a lead
that the Bruins would never overcome and that the Blue Devils would
only build on.
And Henderson, a pivotal piece to the UCLA squad as well as the
tallest player for the Bruins, would pick up three fouls. UCLA head
coach Steve Lavin was forced to sit the 6-foot-8 1/2-inch senior
for the remaining 13:23 of the first half and insert 6-foot-3-inch
freshman Rico Hines.
"J.R. Henderson is a central figure to our success," Lavin said.
"And when Henderson isn’t on the floor it puts a tremendous amount
of pressure on us because now Hines and Travis Reed are our next
biggest players.
"They’re freshman and they’re getting better, but that’s a lot
of pressure on the road," he said
Henderson’s absence hurt UCLA’s offense more than it hurt the
Bruin defense, though. Without Henderson’s size under the basket,
UCLA struggled to make a shot against the much bigger Devils.
The Bruins shot a dismal 26.2 percent in the first half mainly
because they could not finish off second, third and sometimes even
fourth looks.
Meanwhile, the Devils won the game because of perimeter shooting
more than by pounding the ball inside, shooting a 53.2 clip .
Duke made 15 three-pointers; junior Trajan Langdon shot 11 of 16
from the field including six threes and scored a game-high 34
points.
In last year’s Bruin victory over the Blue Devils, Langdon
didn’t score in the first half. This season, Langdon had 21 points
by intermission.
UCLA would attempt to come back from its 57-33 halftime deficit
in the second act, but the task was made even harder when Henderson
picked up his fourth foul with 18:22 left. He was called for an
offensive foul – his third of the game.
Henderson, whose armband had the number 34 written on it, was
clearly frustrated by the referees calls.
"I knew we were in the ACC and we’re from the Pac-10 and we
might get a couple of calls against us, but to make it that
obvious, it’s just not right," said Henderson who had 14 points in
his 18 minutes. "(The refs) definitely determined the outcome. It
was already going to be a tough game for us. And with Jelani gone,
I’m the backbone and to take the backbone out really hurts the
team."
But what also hurt UCLA was its lack of depth. Duke had 10
players play more than 10 minutes in the game; the Devils’ starting
five averaged only 23.4 minutes.
"We are a fresh basketball team," Duke head coach Mike
Krzyzewski said.
"We never lost our legs," said Henderson "They were bringing in
five guys at a time and I knew eventually we were going to wear
down, and they were going to keep going strong, and I think that
shows in the score."
Kris Johnson led the Bruins with 20 points. Davis added 18
before fouling out with 4:03 to go, and Bailey had 17 points and
nine rebounds.
"Hats go off to Duke," Johnson said. "They played an awesome
game."