Hoops cleans city with sweep of USC
UCLA clinches Pac-10
title, NCAA bid with
85-66 win over Trojans
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
Appropriately enough, the first-ranked basketball team in the
nation is now the first squad in possession of an invitation to the
NCAA Tournament.
By virtue of it’s 85-66 victory over USC Wednesday, No. 1 UCLA
clinched a share of its 29th Pacific-10 Conference Championship and
an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
"Winning the conference feels okay," UCLA guard Cameron Dollar
said. "That’s one goal accomplished, but we have another one to
go.
"We’re pleased to win the championship, but we can’t be content
with that."
For a while Wednesday, it appeared that the Bruins would not
even have a chance to be content with a win over lowly USC (7-19
overall, 2-14 in the Pac-10).
Perhaps showing signs of fatigue after the grueling five-game
stretch that left it at the top of the polls, UCLA (22-2, 14-2)
allowed the Trojans to build a five-point lead with just under 10
minutes remaining in the first half.
A three-point play by Bruin forward Charles O’Bannon and a slam
dunk by swingman J.R. Henderson tied the score at 17, but Southern
Cal kept UCLA on its heels and moved out to its biggest lead of the
game, 37-31, on a Cameron Murray three pointer with just over two
minutes left in the first period.
"This was an emotional game, and our team was able to rise to
the occasion," USC head coach Charlie Parker said. "Our guys came
to play, and we think that UCLA’s slow start was a result of our
emotion and the way we were playing.
"But in the second half, we just started missing shots, and they
got out on the break."
Actually, USC’s struggles began immediately after Murray’s trey.
UCLA went on a 7-2 run over the last two minutes of the half,
highlighted by O’Bannon’s one-handed jam that left the score at
38-37 with 20 seconds left. O’Bannon led UCLA in the first half in
both scoring (11 points), rebounds (four) and blocked shots
(two).
"I thought Charles O’Bannon carried us in the first half," UCLA
head coach Jim Harrick said. "He had some transition baskets, he
was really hustling, keeping his hands up and rotating on our
defense off our cover-down."
In the second half, the entire Bruin squad stepped up the
defensive intensity, holding USC to a single field goal in the
first seven minutes.
Brandon Martin put USC up, 41-38, with an eight-foot jumper 40
seconds into the second period, but the Trojans went cold and UCLA
went on a 15-1 run over the next 6:03, capped by Ed O’Bannon’s
second three pointer of the night.
Murray finally broke the cold streak for USC with a fallaway
jumper at 12:05 and Jaha Wilson cut UCLA’s lead to nine (55-46)
with 11:35 remaining in regulation, but the Trojans would never
come any closer than that.
"The first twelve-and-a-half minutes of the second half was the
way we have played all year," Harrick said. "We guarded people, and
when you guard people, that changes everything."
Toby Bailey led UCLA with 24 points, while Ed O’Bannon and
Henderson each had 14.