DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA center
Dan Gadzuric, who fouled out for the third
straight game, takes the ball to the hoop in the game at Arizona on
Saturday.
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; The lead was delicious.
The first 25 minutes were like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the
No. 9 UCLA men’s basketball team. The Bruins (13-4, 5-2
Pac-10) reveled in it and savored it, but after 25 minutes of open
threes, the No. 15 Wildcats (13-4, 6-2) began to make a case for
themselves and ultimately beat the visiting Bruins on Saturday
96-86 in front of 14, 571 at the McKale Center.
It all started when Arizona called a time-out at 16:37 in the
second half, following Jason Kapono’s three-pointer, which
broke the UCLA record for three-pointers in a game.
At first, it didn’t seem any different than any other
time-out Arizona had been prompted to call after a Bruin run.
Instead of the spirit squads dancing during the time-out, a
spirited red-clad man ran to center court to pump up the fans.
As he danced around in his red shorts, red shirt and
red-and-white striped socks, the then-lifeless crowd seemed to
awaken again. Even though Arizona trailed by 16 points, 69-53, the
crowd was loud.
In the next three minutes, the Bruins built their lead up to 20
after a basket from Dijon Thompson.
And then something happened.
It wasn’t loud or showy. It was just a wide-open three
from Luke Walton with 13:19 to go. He chipped three points off of
the Bruins’ lead, bringing his team to within 17 at
73-56.
After Walton completed the three-pointer, the previously silent
crowd went wild. The comeback was in the making.
“I kind of sensed it,” said senior guard Rico Hines,
who was sidelined this weekend with lingering effects of a
concussion. “This is my fifth year, and I told them
they’re about to make their run.”
Walton’s three-pointer was all the ‘Cats needed.
From that point on, Arizona shredded UCLA’s lead going on a
24-2 run in the next six minutes, bringing the score to 80-75 with
7:25 to go.
“We certainly got into a big hole against an outstanding
basketball team,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson. “In
the first half, all of the energy was on their side, and we had no
energy. We got some energy in the second half, and we extended the
pressure. We made them miss, and we had some great opportunities
offensively.”
The two halves were two different games.
There were two different UCLA teams.
The first showcased the Bruins’ ability to shoot the
three, with their 11 coming from four different players.
Kapono displayed his offensive prowess against the Arizona zone,
which the Bruins made ineffective in the first half thanks to their
quick passing. Kapono made seven three-pointers and finishing with
a game-high 25 points.
“They were hitting some wide-open shots,” Arizona
freshman Will Bynum said. “Our defense was allowing their
offense to get wide-open looks and they didn’t seem to
miss.”
But the second half featured a shutdown of the Bruin
offense.
“We’re a very good shooting team,” Kapono
said, “but can we play smart? That’s questionable. Can
we play smart when we’re down? That’s
questionable.”
It wasn’t that Arizona hadn’t been scoring during
the first 25 minutes of the game ““ the ‘Cats went into
the half with 43 points ““ it was that UCLA had been scoring
more. A halftime defensive switch made by the Wildcats put more
pressure on Kapono, and once Arizona put limits on the previous
all-you-can-eat buffet, the Bruins began playing desperately. The
‘Cats took the lead for the first time with 9:46 left in the
game and never looked back.
“We didn’t get ourselves a chance to win with our
performance in the second half,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin
said. “We didn’t make them guard us, we didn’t
make the extra pass, we didn’t get ball reversal, we
didn’t play inside-outside basketball.”
Shot after shot clanked off the front of the rim down the
stretch for the Bruins. And once Dan Gadzuric fouled out with 6:40
to go, the Wildcats were able to get more shots off in the paint,
providing extra padding for the Wildcat growing lead.
“Throughout his career, when he stays in the game
we’re a much better team because he’s a dominant
presence in there,” Lavin said. “Without him
we’re not as opposing in the paint or on the back
boards.”
And the turnover problem reared its ugly head for the Bruins in
the second half. UCLA finished with 17 overall after giving away
just five in the first half.
“This is the loudest place in the country, and it got to
some of the younger guys. We’d go on runs and then make
stupid turnovers,” Barnes said. “With this team (UCLA)
I’d like to keep it a tight game. We have a tendency to let
up when we get a big lead.”
When the final buzzer sounded, Wildcat fans flooded the floor.
And the Bruins, stunned, made their way to the exit. What had
started out as a feast ended up being one of the toughest games for
the Bruins to swallow.