Bruins run over Trojans in 99-72 win
M. hoops stifles ‘SC with school record field goal
percentage
By Melissa Anderson
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The USC men’s basketball team gave No. 15 UCLA a run for its
money Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Trojans, the race
ended about 10 minutes into the game.
Bolstered by a phenomenal 84.6 percent clip from the field in
the first half, the Bruins (13-4 overall, 6-1 Pac-10) set off on an
18-1 run with 7:01 remaining in the half and never looked back,
emerging with a 99-72 victory.
"When you shoot the ball well, everything else falls into place
and you look like a million dollars," UCLA head coach Jim Harrick
said. "We shot the ball very well tonight."
Very well indeed.
Led by Charles O’Bannon’s career-high 27 points and 13 rebounds,
UCLA made 16 of its first 18 shots en route to shooting a
school-record 73.1 percent on the night.
However, it should come as no surprise that the Bruins can shoot
the ball. UCLA led the nation in shooting percentage going into
Wednesday night’s contest with a 51.8 percent mark.
The Trojans jumped out to an early four point lead behind the
offensive spark of center Avondre Jones and guard Stais Boseman,
but the UCLA offensive onslaught which followed was too much for a
Trojan defense that is unaccustomed to playing zone.
"We’re really not a zone team,we should’ve stayed with man" USC
head coach Charlie Parker said. "I thought defensively we would
match up … I was shocked that we didn’t play that well."
Sophomore Toby Bailey started the Bruin run with an ally-oop
slam dunk from O’Bannon that put UCLA up, 29-23. Jelani McCoy
followed suit with a jam of his own and USC (10-8, 3-4) would not
get closer than six for the remainder of the contest.
O’Bannon took over from there, finishing the half a perfect
8-for-8 from the field and scoring nine of the Briuns’ next 13
points, including a 24-foot trey from the top of the key to put
UCLA up by 20 heading into the locker room.
"They played very well and we played very poor," Parker said.
"At the beginning and near the end, it was an even game, but that
doesn’t help when you’re down by 20 at the half."
While USC was waiting for the Bruin shooters to cool down in the
second half, tempers on both sides heated up when Kris Johnson and
USC forward Jaha Wilson got into a shouting match less than three
minutes into the period.
Both players were ejected from the game, but they were sighted
for unsportsmanlike conduct rather than fighting and will not have
to sit out any games.
"We were kind of locked up a little bit," Johnson said in the
locker room, where he watched the remainder of the game. "We had
each other’s jersey’s in our hands. If I was the ref, I probably
would’ve made the same call."
The Trojans showed signs of life in the second half, embarking
on a 9-0 run of their own to pull within 14 at 62-48 with 12:20 to
play. Led by senior guard Brandon Martin (22 points) and
back-to-back treys by Boseman, it appeared as if the Bruin defense
was going to let Southern Cal climb back into the game.
But Bailey – who finished the night with 16 points and four
assists – responded on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer
that put UCLA up 65-48, killing the ‘SC drive and sending much of
the 12,635 Pauley Pavilion crowd to the parking lot.
"Our defense was really good except for about 10 minutes in the
second half," Harrick said. "We didn’t play as hard as we could,
but we ended the game well."
While O’Bannon stole the show with his second double-double of
the season, sophomore J.R. Henderson managed to quietly put up 17
points of his own while Johnson exited the game with 14, giving the
Bruins four players with double-digit scoring totals.
"In the first half, everybody was passing the ball and getting
everybody incorporated," Bailey said. "We continued that into the
second half, and that’s how we’re going to have to play if we want
to win the Pac-10."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu