A season to savor
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
T he more you consider what the UCLA men’s basketball team did
throughout the 1994-95 season, the harder it becomes to believe
that most college coaches picked Arkansas to win the 1995 NCAA
championship game.
After all, the Bruins entered the contest with the nation’s No.
1 ranking, an 18-game winning streak and a 30-2 overall record that
found its origin in an 83-60 win over Cal State Northridge at
Pauley Pavilion Nov. 26.
The win over the Matadors moved UCLA, which had started the
season ranked sixth by the Associated Press, up one spot to the No.
5 position. One week later, the Bruins met No. 2 Kentucky in the
John Wooden Classic at the Pond of Anaheim, and a last-second,
82-81 victory over the vaunted Wildcats positioned the Bruins at
the No. 2 spot in the polls.
With a starting squad that included seniors Ed O’Bannon, Tyus
Edney and George Zidek, and sophomores Charles O’Bannon and Cameron
Dollar, along with strong contributions from freshman reserves J.R.
Henderson and Toby Bailey, expectations of the team began to soar,
and they remained lofty through all of December.
During that time, the Bruins earned easy victories over Cal
State Fullerton (99-65), Louisiana State (92-72), George Mason
(137-100) and North Carolina State (88-80).
But then, poised to take over the nation’s top spot because No.
1 Kansas had lost, UCLA stumbled. Playing in their first conference
game of the season Jan. 5, the Bruins lost a second-half lead to
Oregon and left Eugene with an 82-72 loss.
UCLA committed 21 turnovers in the game and was out-rebounded
45-37 by the Ducks, including a 25-10 disadvantage on the offensive
boards.
With this in mind, critics, citing UCLA’s ascent to the top of
the polls and then rapid downfall in the 1993-94 season, began to
bash the team. Harrick, realizing that his team needed some
rebounding help, replaced Dollar in the starting lineup with
Henderson.
The move paid off, and the Bruins earned a split in Oregon with
a nine-point victory over Oregon State Jan. 7. Henderson had 16
points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 35 minutes
of action, and the team out-rebounded the Beavers 34-22.
Returning home with a No. 6 ranking, UCLA swept the Washington
schools with a 75-57 victory over Washington Jan. 12 and a 91-78
win over Washington State Jan 14. Before the game against the
Cougars, it was disclosed that junior guard Marquis Burns would
transfer schools in search of more playing time.
The following week, the Bruins traveled to Arizona for a road
series that was sure to have a resounding impact on the race for
the Pacific-10 Championship. UCLA had moved back up to the No. 4
spot in the polls, while Arizona and Arizona State were rated No.
11 and No. 13, respectively.
Earlier in the season, after his team had lost to the upstart
Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona head coach Lute Olson promised that no
Pacific-10 team would leave the state of Arizona without at least
one loss added to its record. And Harrick, being his usual cautious
self, had even hinted that he would be content with a split.
As it turned out, UCLA handed Arizona its second-worst home loss
in Olson’s career, defeating the Wildcats 71-61 in Tuscon Jan. 19.
Two days later, as if to add insult to injury, the Bruins did what
Olson had said no team could  beating Arizona State 85-72 in
Tempe to complete the sweep.
Bailey, with a game-high 12 rebounds against Arizona and 19
points against Arizona State, emerged as a strong candidate for a
starting position, and his elevated play reflected the expectations
that followed the Arizona trip.
The Bruins, however, struggled in a 77-74 home win over Stanford
Jan. 26, and suffered another loss two days later.
Cal, which entered Pauley Pavilion Jan. 28 with a 2-4 conference
record, shocked the Bruins with an outstanding exhibition of
basketball and left with a 100-93 victory. The loss, UCLA’s second
of the season, would be the Bruins’ last.
Having fallen to No. 7 in the rankings, Harrick’s squad
travelled across town Feb. 2 for a game against USC at the Sports
Arena. Forced to play without a flu-stricken Edney, the Bruins
escaped with a 73-69 victory, and it appeared that another
mid-season collapse was on the way.
Then, hosting nonconference rival Notre Dame Feb. 5, UCLA proved
itself once again. An emotional technical foul on Ed O’Bannon
sparked a 63-point second half for the Bruins, who emerged with a
92-55 victory and rose one spot in the poll.
A trip to the Pacific Northwest resulted in a 74-66 victory over
Washington Feb. 9 and a 98-83 win over Washington State Feb. 11,
after which UCLA returned home to begin a 13-day, six-game stretch
that included home games against the Arizona schools, road games in
the Bay Area and two more home games against Duke and USC.
Still ranked No. 6, the Bruins opened the six-game sequence with
an 82-77 overtime victory over Arizona State Feb. 16. They were led
by Charles O’Bannon, who scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds
in a career-high 42 minutes.
It was Ed O’Bannon, however, who would really step it up in the
most dangerous part of his team’s schedule. He scored 22 points
against ASU, then had a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds in
UCLA’s 72-20 squeaker over Arizona Feb. 19.
Two days later, he would lead his team to an 89-77 victory at
Stanford with 22 points and nine rebounds, and O’Bannon followed
that performance up with a 27-point performance at Cal during which
he was seven-for-nine from behind the three point line.
The senior All-American left his best performance for Duke,
against which he scored 37 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a
100-77 shellacking of the once-proud Blue Devils.
In all, O’Bannon had averaged 27.8 points and nine rebounds
through the stretch that left UCLA ranked No. 1. He cooled off in
the March 1 game against USC, allowing Toby Bailey to lead the
Bruins to an 85-66 victory with a team-high 24 points.
Bailey led the Bruins to a 91-73 victory at Louisville with 17
points and 11 rebounds, then allowed Ed O’Bannon back into the
spotlight against Oregon State March 9.
At home, the Bruins defeated the Beavers 86-67 behind O’Bannon’s
21 points, and two days later wrapped up the regular season and
avenged the early-season loss to Oregon with a 94-78 victory over
the Ducks.