By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
EUGENE, Ore. “”mdash; For most of this season, how Earl Watson
has gone is how the UCLA men’s basketball team has gone.
So when senior co-captain Watson fouled out with 12 minutes left
against Oregon Thursday night, albeit with the Bruins up 64-50, No.
15 UCLA appeared rudderless and about to hit the ocean floor.
In front of a rambunctious crowd, the Ducks cut UCLA’s
lead to eight points. But Oregon wasn’t able to get over the
hump largely because of the play of Ryan Bailey. The senior backup
point guard stepped in, righted the ship and led UCLA to an 88-73
win.
Bailey’s stat line ““ six points (on 1-of-3
shooting), five rebounds, and four assists ““ wasn’t all
that impressive but his calming influence and leadership played a
big part in UCLA keeping its lead.
Bailey, who came into the contest averaging 12 minutes a game,
gave the departing Watson a hug as he stepped onto the floor in the
second half.
A rowdy Oregon student section greeted him. The students
continuously heckled Bailey by making reference to his brother
Toby, who led the Bruins to the NCAA championship in 1995.
The students berated Bailey with the chant “Toby was
better.” Later in the game, they took a jab at Bailey’s
weight, chanting “Toby was skinnier.”
“I get it probably the worst (on the team),” Bailey
said. “It’s probably because my brother played so well
against them. They are taking all their anger out on me, but
it’s fun.”
“It makes me take my game to another level,” he
added. “If somebody is on me, obviously they are caring about
how I play.”
UCLA, which got routed at Arizona with an injured Watson on the
bench, called a team meeting after the senior captain fouled out.
Watson played just 14 minutes.
“We told Earl we were going to get it done for him,”
junior shooting guard Ray Young said. “We have all the faith
in the world in Moose (Bailey).”
What Bailey did was end a terrible shooting stretch for the
team. When he entered the game at 12:07 left, Oregon was in the
middle of a furious run as they had shrunk UCLA’s 21-point
lead to 64-52.
The Bruins didn’t score for the next five minutes. Bailey
ended the stretch by slashing to the basket for a driving layup to
put UCLA up 66-56.
Oregon got no closer the rest of the game.
Bailey’s play on the defensive end was also effective. He
held Oregon freshman guard Luke Ridnour, a McDonald’s High
School All-American, to just five points on 1-of-9 shooting. The
senior said he approached the game no differently than any
other.
“I have the same mind-set for every game,” Bailey
said. “When I’m called upon, I try to do what I can do
for the team and try to bring energy into the game. I’m an
older guy so I’m a little more poised.”