Thursday, December 5, 1996
BASKETBALL:
Benching of three UCLA players no barrier to dominationBy A.
CinQue Carter
Daily Bruin Contributor
Charles O’Bannon shot 72.7 percent from the field and 100
percent from the line en route to scoring 23 points and being named
Player of the Game in Men’s Hoops versus Cal State Northridge on
Tuesday.
Toby Bailey broke out of his free-throw shooting slump, sinking
six of seven, while dishing out a career-high tying 10 assists and
scoring 14 points. J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy, both coming off
the bench due to a "miscommunication" with the coaching staff added
16 and 18 points, respectively. A crowd of 7,427 sat in amazement
in Pauley Pavilion as Bob Myers and Brandon Loyd started in their
places.
With 11:59 remaining in the first half, Henderson, McCoy and
Kris Johnson, also benched due to the infraction, came into the
game with UCLA leading only 17-12. After they entered, the Bruins
(1-1) were able to pick up the pace and push to their first
double-digit lead at the 7:22 mark on O’Bannon’s reverse dunk on
one of Cameron Dollar’s seven assists. While shooting 63.3 percent
from the field, the Bruins held the Matadors (1-3) to a meager 35.3
percent. However, CSUN made up for their poor shooting by grabbing
23 offensive boards to UCLA’s four. Northridge out-rebounded UCLA
44-32 on the night.
Nursing only a 47-34 advantage at half-time, UCLA managed to
break the game open in the second half and pull out a 95-73
victory. The win was the first for interim head coach Steve Lavin
since becoming Jim Harrick’s replacement.