MARY CIECEK/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Matt
Barnes drives to the basket in the second half of the
Bruins’ overtime win against Arizona. Barnes finished with 16
points. UCLA 79 Arizona 77 MEN’S
BASKETBALL PREVIEW vs. Saturday 2 p.m. Pauley Pavilion
Radio 850 AM
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
By the time the students finished rushing the court, five press
tables were tossed to the floor and confetti covered every inch of
the arena.
Energized by an unusually rowdy crowd that was packed to Pauley
Pavilion’s rafters and some inspired and unselfish team play,
No. 24 UCLA (16-6, 9-2 Pac-10) stunned No. 8 Arizona (17-7, 9-3)
79-77 in overtime Thursday night.
After a back and forth overtime, the game came down to two
Wildcat free throws by Richard Jefferson with 1.6 seconds and UCLA
holding a slim 79-77 lead.
Jefferson missed the first free throw and after purposely
missing the second, Arizona wasn’t able to convert at the
buzzer. When the horn sounded the party was on.
The students jumped from their seats, knocked down the press
tables and ran to congratulate the Bruins.
“I didn’t think they would rush the court,”
UCLA guard Earl Watson said. “It’s great to see that
kind of fanfare. That crowd had our back from the jump and most of
those students had our back from the beginning of the year.
“Maybe the crowd was the difference in the game,” he
added.
The upset gives UCLA a four-game win streak and the Bruins are
now the winners of 12 of their last 14 games. But more importantly,
the win puts the team in position to claim its first Pac-10 title
since 1997.
The Bruins are now in second place in the conference, one game
behind Stanford in the loss column. They have seven Pac-10 games
left on the schedule.
You can attribute the victory to selfless team play as the
Bruins constantly looked for the open man.
 Hundreds of UCLA students rushed the court after the No.
24 ranked Bruins upset the No. 8 Arizona Wildcats 79-77 in overtime
at Pauley Pavilion. This was the first time students have rushed
the court since the Bruins beat Duke in Pauley in 1997. Four UCLA
players finished with double figures. Forward Matt Barnes had 16
points, forward Jason Kapono had 20, and guard Watson had 10. Bruin
center Dan Gadzuric led the way with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Those numbers are amazing considering Gadzuric was questionable
entering the game after spraining his left ankle against
DePaul.
“I say this with all sincerity, this was not a
psychological play,” UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin said.
“We weren’t trying for a Willis Reed game decision that
would get the crowd jacked up. I know nothing about ankles and how
kids recover. I just depend on team doctors.”
The main reason Arizona stayed in the game in the first place
was because of the play of North Hollywood native Gilbert
Arenas.
Arenas, who wasn’t recruited by UCLA out of high school,
finished with a game-high 30 points on 9 of 18 shooting.
He nearly willed Arizona to victory in the closing moments of
regulation and throughout overtime.
The shooting guard manhandled every defender Lavin threw on the
floor, from Ray Young to Billy Knight, Ryan Bailey to Watson.
Arenas began to call for the ball in the later stages and seemed
to hit the big shot when Arizona needed it the most.
“I was trying to lead him to the baseline and stop him,
but he just kept going,” Knight said. “In the second
half he wanted the ball and he made everything.”
 Junior center Dan Gadzuric runs onto the
court as his name is called as a starter. Gadzuric was not
projected to play because of a sprained left ankle, but made an
unexpected recovery to lead the Bruins with 22 points and 17
rebounds.
Things didn’t look good for UCLA toward the end of
regulation. With one minute left and the game tied, Matt Barnes was
rejected by Wildcat center Loren Woods.
The block led to an uncontested one-handed jam by Jefferson to
give Arizona a 68-66 lead.
UCLA was able to respond on its next possession with a play that
was a testament to the way the Bruins performed the entire
game.
Watson penetrated to the basket and tossed the ball to a wide
open Knight at the three point arc.
Playing unselfishly, Knight faked the shot, took a dribble and
found Gadzuric all alone under the basket. Gadzuric made the basket
while being fouled to tie the game at 68.
“We realize to win games it has to be a team
effort,” Knight said. “It can’t be one or two or
even three guys. To win you need all five guys on the same page and
playing together.”
After Gadzuric missed the ensuing free throw, Arenas had a
chance to put the dagger into his hometown school but missed a
running layup in front of the Bruin center. Wildcat Michael Wright
grabbed the rebound but wasn’t able to convert at the
buzzer.
The crowd played a significant role in the overtime session. It
stood, clapped, and jumped up and down to finally give UCLA the
home court advantage it had been missing the entire year.
Going into the match, UCLA had been averaging just 7,897 fans
per game in Pauley Pavilion.
After the game, Barnes thanked the sold-out crowd of 12,386 for
its support.
“First off I want to thank the crowd,” he said in a
interview that was played over the arena’s PA system.
“You guys were the sixth man tonight. You really helped us a
lot out there.”
Lavin said jokingly that he had been doing some individual
advertising to get fans in the seats.
“People don’t know this but in the early morning I
go out to Westwood with a sandwich board that says, “˜Game
tonight free doughnuts if we score 100 points,'” Lavin
said with a grin. “It’s a personal marketing plan and I
think it paid off tonight.”
Lavin knows Pauley Pavilion isn’t Duke’s Cameron
Indoor Stadium or Stanford’s Maples Pavilion, but when UCLA
is winning there’s no place like Pauley.
“When our fans turn out like this it’s a great home
court advantage,” he said. “This town is not like being
in West Lafayette in the cornfields. The entertainment dollar is
stretched thin (in LA).
“If we aren’t playing high level basketball, people
can go watch it on TV, they can go to the Hollywood Bowl, or go
watch a Lakers game.”
After making a strong statement that they are Pac-10 title
contenders on Thursday, UCLA will play Arizona State (11-12, 3-9)
on Saturday in Pauley.
Given the emotional win over the Wildcats, the Bruins could
easily have a let down against the eighth-place Sun Devils. On
Thursday Arizona State lost 80-68 to USC.
ASU hasn’t won in Pauley in more than seven years, losing
its last 14 games in Westwood.