Friday, January 31, 1997
M. HOOPS:
Bruins lose to the Ducks, 87-85, in overtime, now share No. 1
spot with ArizonaBy Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
EUGENE, Ore. — Playing in a crucial conference game in a
hostile environment Thursday night, Toby Bailey of the UCLA men’s
basketball team almost walked on water twice.
First, the junior guard sent the game into overtime with just
seconds remaining in the second half when he hit a lunging three
pointer.
Then, Bailey (who finished with a game high 24 points) nearly
pulled off a win at the end of the overtime session with a shotput
try from 27 feet. Unfortunately for UCLA, Bailey’s shot caromed off
the rim at the buzzer. The missed shot was enough to give the crowd
a reason to storm the court, celebrating Oregon’s 87-85
victory.
The loss dropped UCLA’s overall record to 11-6, but more
importantly for tournament implications down the line, the Bruins’
Pacific 10 mark sank to 6-2. They are now tied with Arizona, which
beat Washington State Thursday night, for first place in the
Pac-10.
Despite the blow UCLA took at McArthur Court in Eugene, head
coach Steve Lavin praised his team’s relentless effort.
"I told (the team) that this was the best game I’ve ever been
part of as an assistant or a head coach," Lavin said. "Just far as
the back and forth exchanging leads and teams fighting back on one
another, no team able to put away until the very last second Â
that reflects how strong a conference this is."
In overtime, the Ducks (12-5, 3-5) held the lead most of the
five minutes of action, thanks in large part to Jamal Lawrence and
the rest of the Ducks’ continuous sharp shooting from outside.
However, the Bruins were able to climb back once again and the
scoreboard read 85-85 with 16 seconds remaining on the clock.
Hoping to surprise the Ducks who were coming out of a timeout,
and to keep the ball out of the hands of point guard Kenya Wilkins
and Lawrence, the Bruins came out with a full court trap. UCLA was
able to force the ball into the hands of Henry Madden, an unlikely
hero. But Madden’s 6-footer was a swish and Bailey’s desperate
attempt bounced off the back of the rim.
"It wouldn’t have been fair if he hit that shot the second
time," said Wilkins, who guarded Bailey on the play. "With UCLA,
there’s so much hype, a win against them always goes noticed."
In the early going, it appeared that Oregon was on its way to an
easy time. With pinpoint accuracy from the three-point territory,
which rendered UCLA’s zone highly ineffective, Jamal Lawrence hit
two treys and helped the Ducks jump out to a 12-2 lead. Oregon’s
lead would grow as much as 12 points in the first half, but with a
combination of UCLA’s switch to zone and the Ducks’ process of
cooling off, the score at halftime read 36-34.
That was when the tug-of-war match started, as neither team was
able to get on a substantial scoring run in the second half. The
closest one resembling such was Oregon’s 7-0 run ending at 3:32,
which was matched by UCLA’s 8-1 run of their own, with Bailey’s
three pointer capping it off.
"This was a good win for us and how much it helps us, we’ll find
out Saturday night," Oregon head coach Jerry Green said. "I wanted
to play good and I thought it was an excellent basketball
game."
UCLA will remain in the Pacific Northwest to take on Oregon
State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Like the Bruins, the Beavers are coming off of a loss from
Thursday night. OSU lost to USC 71-68, dropping its record to 5-12
overall and 1-7 in Pac-10.
SUSIE MING HWA CHU/Daily Bruin
Toby Bailey played the entire game against Oregon and led the
Bruins with 24 points and seven rebounds. His effort was wasted as
the Bruins lost by two points in overtime.