Ben Howland kept his cool at halftime when UCLA trailed by
double digits.
He didn’t let his nerves get to him as the frantic final
seconds ticked off.
But the Bruins’ new basketball coach couldn’t help
but heap praise on his players for showing some ““
whatchamacallit ““ heart after UCLA rang in the new era by
pulling out a 68-67 season-opening win over Vermont on
Saturday.
“Maybe in the back of their minds, they were thinking
“˜Oh no, here we go again,’ but they didn’t let
that affect them,” Howland said. “They showed some
toughness and some character to fight back.
“What’s great is that they overcame
adversity.”
A successful Ryan Hollins free throw with 4.8 seconds left in
the game was the only difference between Howland detailing how UCLA
exhibited the very attributes he demands of his teams and lamenting
how the Bruins maddeningly played at times as though an off-season
coaching change had never been made.
Then again, UCLA had gotten used to no-name teams overrunning
Pauley Pavilion, and scrappy Vermont (0-3) was poised to fit the
bill with the Bruins operating under adverse circumstances.
UCLA only had two available forwards on the roster after
starting freshman power forward Trevor Ariza suffered a collapsed
lung in practice Thursday and was deemed unavailable for the next
two weeks.
Junior Josiah Johnson made his first career start, but he as
well as sophomore centers Michael Fey and Hollins, who each picked
up two first-half fouls, were no match for Vermont forward Taylor
Coppenrath.
The 2002-03 America East Conference Player of the Year scored 38
points to tie his career high, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer
to cap off a 20-6 run and give the Catamounts a 34-23 lead at
halftime.
“Coppenrath we just had no answer for,” Howland
said. “The guy’s a hell of a player. He’s going
to make money playing basketball someday.”
But it was UCLA, despite being one of only three Division I
teams to finally open its season on Saturday, and shooting just 31
percent from the field in the first half, that was money in the
end.
UCLA guard Brian Morrison drained a 3-pointer with 48.8 seconds
left after taking a charge from Coppenrath to give the Bruins a
67-64 lead. After Coppenrath tied the game with a 3-pointer of his
own, Hollins was fouled on a dunk attempt and converted one of his
two free throw attempts.
T.J. Sorrentine’s desperation 3-pointer came after the
buzzer, and Vermont coach Tom Brennan stormed off the court all the
while yelling at the referees for a foul call that never came.
“They were a good team, but we knew we were going to win
the game,” said UCLA forward Dijon Thompson, who had 18
points and a game-high nine rebounds. “We fought
back.”
Fey finished with career highs of 20 points and eight rebounds
and keyed an 11-0 second-half run with big put-backs and blocks
that gave UCLA a 43-41 lead with 10:40 to go.
“I was being more active,” said Fey, who only had
two points at halftime. “But that wasn’t the game plan.
The game plan was to just get back in the game however we
could.”
Junior Cedric Bozeman, playing on a sprained ankle, dished out a
career-high nine assists, not including the last-second feed to
Hollins, and scored 12 points.
Howland counted 36 of his friends and family on hand to see him
make his UCLA debut. Now, with his first win as a Bruin under his
belt, it appears he’ll be more comfortable in calling his
inherited players his own.
“I’m really proud of the fact they never quit, they
never gave up, they never stopped believing that we were going to
win,” Howland said. “That’s how you have to
respond when you’re down.”