UCLA honors seniors, 1969 national championship team

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There were some famous faces in the crowd at Saturday’s UCLA-Oregon game, with the Bruins prevailing, 94-68. No, we’re not talking about these ...

The Bruins honored their 1969 national championship team with a presentation at halftime. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gave a speech while standing alongside classmates Lynn Shackelford, Ken Heitz, Bill Sweek, Jim Nielsen and Don Saffer. They were joined by George Farmer, Sidney Wicks, Cameron Rowe (representing his father, Curtis), Jeff Schofield (representing his uncle, Terry), Lee Walczuk, and coach Denny Crum. John Wooden was recovering from an illness and was unable to attend.

The 1969 team finished 29-1 overall and won the first ever Pac-8 Conference title. They also became the first team to win three consecutive national championships.

Before the game, there was a salute to the seniors, who all enjoyed their final game at Pauley Pavilion. Alfred Aboya only had 10 points, but had his parents in the crowd for the first time ever this week (they flew in from Cameroon). Darren Collison piled up 19 points, and Josh Shipp had a career-high 28. While those three have received most of the attention this year, James Diefenbach had a special moment when he was inserted late in the game and made his second basket of the season.

Stay tuned for updates on Collison, who hit the deck hard in the second half and had to rush to the hospital after the game for X-rays on his lower back. He was able to jump up and walk off on his own power, though he looked pretty sore.

-- Adam Rose