Friday, March 7, 1997
M. HOOPS:
O’Bannon scores a career-high 31 points; team wins third
consecutive Pac-10 titleBy Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
SEATTLE — If there were any doubts that Charles O’Bannon is the
man for the ninth- ranked Bruins, they were all blown into oblivion
Thursday night as the senior forward took charge in UCLA’s 87-85
win over the Washington Huskies in front of 7,836 in Hec Edmundson
Pavilion.
O’Bannon scored a career-high 31 points, 19 of which came in the
second half when UCLA (20-7, 14-3 Pac-10) had to overcome an eight
point halftime deficit.
"Charles O’Bannon, in my mind, is clearly defining himself as
the Player of the Year in the conference," UCLA head coach Steve
Lavin said. "If there was a debate before, I don’t think there is
now."
With the win, UCLA captured its third consecutive Pac-10 title
outright. If the Bruins win against Washington State on Saturday
afternoon at 1 p.m., they would be making a strong claim as a No. 2
seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"I’m really excited about our team’s competitiveness, our heart
and our desire," O’Bannon said. "Early in the year when a lot of
things would go wrong, you’d see some people, myself included, with
the head down. We never gave up."
In the first half, the Bruins shot 58.3 percent from the field
as sophomore Jelani McCoy and O’Bannon combined for 26 points. But
that proved insufficient against a ferocious Husky attack.
As a team on the bubble for the upcoming tournament, the Huskies
started the game like a squad that wanted so badly to be invited to
the Big Dance.
Washington made 22 of 34 shots (64.7 percent), and led by 16
points at 4:24 in the first half.
The Bruins took to the floor after halftime and asserted
defensive pressure that forced 11 Husky turnovers which translated
into 10 points. But they had to do it without the services of
McCoy, who picked up his fourth foul just 47 seconds into the
second half.
"(McCoy) was keeping us in the game in the first half," Toby
Bailey, who finished with 18 points and nine assists, said. "But we
didn’t get worried. We’re a veteran team, and we knew we all had to
step it up."
Against a pair of Washington 7- footers, Todd MacCulloch and
Patrick Femerling, McCoy’s low post presence would greatly be
missed. But, thanks to J.R. Henderson’s 13 rebounds, the Bruins
managed to escape with a win in what may have been a preview of
March Madness.
WYNN RUJIRAVIRIYAPINYO
Charles O’Bannon