Tuesday, February 18, 1997
M. HOOPS:
Win on the road puts UCLA ahead of USC and CaliforniaBy
Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
TEMPE, Ariz. — The No. 17 UCLA men’s basketball team completed
its sweep in the desert with a victory over Arizona State on
Saturday, 92-81.
"(UCLA) is much better and keeps getting better," ASU head coach
Bill Frieder said. "They’ve come together. (The media) panics
sometimes, but they are right there where they want to be."
And where they want to be is alone in first place in the Pac-10
conference standings.
With crosstown rival USC falling to Arizona 101-77 on Saturday,
the Bruins (15-7 overall, 10-3 Pac-10) own a one-game lead over the
Trojans and California.
"(The sweep) is important because we lost the home game to Cal
(on Feb. 6)," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said. "With that loss to
Cal, we knew we had to get one back somewhere down the road and
that meant that we had to sweep a road trip, and we were able to do
that. I’m really proud of our guys."
While a victory over the Sun Devils (10-14, 2-10), who have lost
17 straight to the Bruins, seemed like a given, there was a danger
of a letdown for UCLA. After the emotionally and physically
draining win two nights before against No. 11 Arizona, Lavin needed
to make sure his team did not lose its concentration against ASU.
His answer: full court press.
"I was a little concerned about us coming from Arizona and
because of our energy not coming out aggressive and attacking,"
Lavin said. "I thought that if we pressed, that would get us into a
more aggressive mind-set, a more attacking mode. It gets the heart
started, it gets the blood flowing, it gets the adrenaline pumping
in the game."
The full court press forced ASU to commit 15 turnovers while the
Bruins only gave up 14, half the number of turnovers they had
against Arizona.
UCLA’s defense also held the Sun Devils to a field-goal
percentage of 42.7. Meanwhile, the Bruin offense was shooting a hot
53.6 percent, thanks in part to Toby Bailey’s 9 for 11 shooting.
Bailey led the Bruins with 20 points.
Senior Cameron Dollar added a career-high 19 points. In
addition, he snatched three steals to complement his four assists
on the offensive end.
"I felt the need to come out and be aggressive and set a tone,
not necessarily with the shot or scoring but just overall," Dollar
said. "I was just trying to be everywhere. I was just trying to get
my hand on the ball, trying to make things happen so that we
wouldn’t come out dead."
UCLA took control early in the game. The last time the Bruins
trailed was two minutes into the game, when they fell behind, 6-4.
After that, it was all UCLA.
The biggest lead UCLA had was 15, when Jelani McCoy slammed home
a rebound with five minutes left in the first half.
However, Arizona State would come back and threaten the Bruin
lead behind freshman Eddie House’s game-high 24 points. The Sun
Devils cut the lead down to three with 16:40 left in the second
half, but UCLA responded with a 6-0 run and ASU would never get
closer.
AARON TOUT
Cameron Dollar guards Arizona State forward Rodger Farrington as
the Bruins cruise to a 92-81 win.