Fair is foul, foul is fair: UCLA beats Stanford
UCLA and Stanford combine 54 fouls
as No. 4 Bruins take a close one, 77-74
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Talk about too close for comfort.
The fourth-ranked UCLA men’s basketball team narrowly escaped
defeat Thursday night, holding off No. 17 Stanford in the closing
minutes of a 77-74 win at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins, who raced out to a 45-31 halftime lead on the
strength of 11 first-half points from George Zidek, actually
trailed with 1:07 remaining in the game.
UCLA forward Ed O’Bannon had put his team up by two with 1:31
remaining when he converted the second of two free throws. But on
Stanford’s ensuing trip down the floor, a defensive letdown left
Cardinal Dion Cross wide open in the left corner, and the junior
guard buried his sixth three pointer of the night to give Stanford
its first lead of the game.
It didn’t last long, however, because Zidek, having been fouled
by Bart Lammersen with 0:45 remaining, connected on both of his
free throws and put UCLA ahead for good.
Stanford turned the ball over on its next possession when Bruin
guard Cameron Dollar stepped into the lane and drew a player
control foul on David Harbour. The charge was Harbour’s fifth
personal foul, and Harbour was the fourth Stanford player to foul
out of the game.
"Cameron Dollar’s charge was a great, great sacrifice," UCLA
head coach Jim Harrick said. "He gave up his body for the good of
the team, and that was really the play that turned the game
around."
Less than 20 seconds later, Brevin Knight, a sophomore guard,
would be the fifth Cardinal to foul out of the game. Knight’s
fourth foul came immediately after Harbour’s when, out of
desperation, Knight grabbed UCLA guard Tyus Edney.
Uncharacteristically, Edney made just one of his two free
throws, but when Knight missed a shot on the Cardinal’s next trip
down the floor, he again fouled Edney – and fouled out – in the
scramble for the loose ball.
In all, 54 fouls were called throughout the game – no where near
the NCAA record of 84 set by Arizona (50) and Northern Arizona (34)
in 1953 – but far too many for Harrick’s liking.
"It was real tough to get into the flow of the game," Harrick
said. "There were a lot of whistles, and it took everybody out of
their game. I thought we played a pretty good first half, but we
just couldn’t get anything going in the second half."
UCLA was outscored 43-32 in the second period, and the Bruins
were held without a field goal over the last 4:20. However, Edney’s
final foul shot with 14 seconds remaining put UCLA up, 77-74, and
Cross’ final three point attempt couldn’t find its way through the
rim.
Cross finished with a game-high 24 points, and O’Bannon had 23
points and six rebounds for UCLA.
As a team, the Bruins (12-1 overall, 6-1 in the Pac-10) were
26-64 from the field and 22-37 from the foul line. Stanford (12-3,
3-3) shot 23-63 from the field and 65.5 percent from the free throw
line.