Friday, February 27, 1998
Bruins snare Cougars with last-second shot
RECAP: Johnson makes three in repeat of last year’s
performance
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
PULLMAN, Wash. — Kris Johnson had an identity crisis Thursday
night at Friel Court. For a moment there, he thought he was Cameron
Dollar.
Last year, the No. 18 UCLA men’s basketball team needed Dollar’s
last-second shot to put away Washington State by one point. This
year, the Bruins (21-6 overall, 11-4 Pac-10) relied on Johnson’s
last-second heroics to defeat the Cougars, 78-75.
Washington State tied the score at 75 behind Carlos Daniel’s two
free throws. So with 27 seconds left in the game, UCLA had one last
chance to prevent an overtime game.
Baron Davis brought the ball up the court and passed it to
Johnson. Davis wanted the ball back, but Johnson kept dribbling
against WSU’s Will Hutchens. Johnson waved his teammates off, and
with 0.3 seconds to go, sank his only three-pointer of the night.
Johnson ranks sixth in the conference with his 42.2 three-point
percentage.
"I made up my mind to take that shot," Johnson said. "My dad had
told me this story about Sidney Wicks (a former UCLA star) how he
had the ball and he waved a couple of guys off and hit a 25-footer.
When I went and got the ball at the top that thought flashed in my
mind, and I was like, ‘Forget this, I’m taking it.’
"I work on my threes everyday after practice, so I was real
comfortable and real confident in taking that shot. I really felt
that it was going to go in."
In a game that would finish last in a beauty contest, UCLA
struggled all night against Washington State (9-18, 2-14). The
Bruins shot only 38.7 percent from the field in the first half,
though the Cougars shot worse at 35.7 percent. But WSU would still
take a 36-32 lead into intermission.
The second half was punctuated with multiple ties and lead
changes. But all three seniors would make pivotal plays to pull out
their 100th career victory.
Toby Bailey drove down the baseline for a slam and a foul to put
the Bruins up by two with 2:29 left. Meanwhile J.R. Henderson did
his job on the defensive end blocking a Cougar attempt with 0:52
remaining to keep a 75-73 lead intact a few precious seconds
longer.
And of course there was Johnson’s game-winning shot. Johnson led
the team with 20 points, followed by Bailey with 19 and Henderson
with 15. Both Bailey and Henderson were the leading rebounders for
the Bruins with nine each.
"I thought our seniors down the stretch really stepped up," said
UCLA head coach Steve Lavin. "It was kind of appropriate that our
seniors’ 100th victory that they were the ones that determined the
outcome down the stretch."
There was a scary moment for the Bruins in the second half,
however. Freshman Earl Watson suffered a concussion and was knocked
unconscious when Watson went up to try to contest Daniel’s shot at
the 15:56 mark.
On their way down, Daniel’s forearm belted the right side of
Watson’s face. Watson laid face down on the floor for seven minutes
and it wasn’t until 10 minutes had passed that Watson walked off
the floor under his own power.