It was two and a half hours that seemed more like a surreal
rags-to-riches Hollywood movie than a basketball game.
And at the end, when Ray Young jumped up and down, arms reaching
to the sky, and T.J. Cummings yelled to Andre Patterson from the
end of the bench, and an animated Jason Kapono pumped his fist, the
name for this blockbuster practically wrote itself:
Die another day.
The Bruins, 10-18 and more dangerous than ever, did the
unthinkable Thursday
afternoon in a Pac-10 tournament quarterfinal at Staples Center,
beating national No. 1 Arizona 96-89 in overtime, defeating a
national No. 1 team for the fourth straight season and earning
themselves and head coach Steve Lavin at least one more game.
"I’m sorry," Cummings said as a television reporter pointed a
microphone at
his face, "but I’m so I happy I can’t even speak."
That was OK, though, because the rest of the arena – thousands
of completely
bewildered fans who had filed in throughout the game – made
plenty of noise.
Even USC fans were standing, clapping, asking if it all was
really happening. The only ones who didn’t seem surprised were the
Bruins themselves, who all season have been saying they’re capable
of flipping a switch to turn on their A-game.
"This win showed the grit of this team," said Kapono, who led
UCLA with 26 points. "When they pushed it to 12 points, I’m sure
the fans said ‘oh no, here comes another 35-point blitz.’"
Actually, the Wildcats (25-3) led by as many as 15, but who’s
counting?
Unlike their previous two games against Arizona, the Bruins
responded to this double-digit deficit with an unseen resolve.
Just like before, Lavin called a timeout. But instead of
throwing up misguided shots and dribbling the ball off their legs,
the Bruins responded with a modest 5-0 run.
"I didn’t see anyone with his head down during that timeout,"
Cummings said.
Die another day.
With under a minute left, UCLA clawed back to within one and,
after the ‘Cats tipped a rebound out of bounds, had the ball with
the shot clock turned off. Kapono took a pass off the wing,
dribbled it to the top of the key, and tried a short jumper.
But it was short, forcing the Bruins to foul Arizona’s Salim
Stoudamire who grabbed the rebound. Stoudamire hit both free throws
and the Wildcat lead was three.
Lavin took his final timeout. As the rest of the Bruins listened
intently, Young – the man who had scored UCLA’s last three baskets
– had designs of his own.
"Lav was drawing up a play, but in the back of my mind, I was
thinking, ‘yeah right, if I get the ball, it’s going up, no
question,’" Young said. "So what? It’s my senior year. If we lose,
it’ll be on me."
It would have made for a great movie scene, really: the coach,
10 seconds away from possibly being fired, is trying to engineer
one miracle play ““ and his hottest shooter isn’t even hearing
him.
But just like on the silver screen, the heartwarming comeback
player made the
shot. Young threw up a high-arcing, off-balance prayer of a
three-point attempt, "kind of like a playground shot" he later
said, that just happened to go in.
And so UCLA bought itself five more minutes of life.
Die another day.
Three Bruins had four fouls going into overtime, though, and
surely the nation’s best team would pull away, most thought.
Indeed, Dijon Thompson and Cummings both fouled out during the
extra period, and Young played heart-wrenchingly aggressive defense
with four fouls of his own.
UCLA won the tip, though, and never looked back. Patterson
pulled down rebound after rebound, even soaring over Arizona’s
six-foot-ten Channing Frye for a key board with under a minute to
go.
The Bruins made 10 of 12 foul shots in overtime and hung on for
the win, stirring Staples Center into a frenzy. Lavin hugged
Chancellor Albert Carnesale and athletic director Dan Guerrero
while Patterson ran up to the crowd, high-fiving everyone in
sight.
They’ll all be back when UCLA plays Oregon tonight at 6:15
p.m.
"Obviously, we’re big supporters of the Pac-10 Tournament,"
Lavin said jokingly. This was supposed to be his last stand, one
final chance to coach his Bruins before their season – and his UCLA
career – ended. That’ll have to wait, though.
For at least another day.