Sun Devils Scorch Bruins, 67-64, on Last-Second Basket

UCLA was flat. How flat were the Bruins?

They were so flat, when they left the locker room, they didn’t open the door, they slid beneath it.

That should have been the first clue of what was going to happen Monday night in Pauley Pavilion, where underdog, downtrodden Arizona State upset UCLA, 67-64, on a three-point shot by Arthur Thomas with one second left.

The big hero was a little guy. Thomas, about the size of an English muffin, is generously listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 145 pounds, all of which he sent hurtling over the outstretched arms of Reggie Miller on his game-winner from 26 feet away.

“He gave me just enough room,” Thomas said.

But Reggie was doubting Thomas. Miller thought he couldn’t have been any closer.

“I was all over him,” Miller said. “(Like) peanut butter and jelly.”

And now, the Bruins have trouble written all over themselves, all because they took the Sun Devils too lightly.

What happened?

“We were definitely slow and sluggish,” center Jack Haley said. “Possibly, we did overlook them just a bit.”

No kidding. Now, hit the road Jack. See you in Corvallis, Ore., where it’s going to be a whole new ballgame because of what happened Monday night.

Suddenly, the Sun Devils are feeling good about themselves. “I’m speechless,” Coach Steve Patterson said.

Suddenly, the Bruins are feeling bad about themselves. “This is awful,” Pooh Richardson said.

Suddenly, Thursday night’s Pacific-10 showdown between UCLA and Oregon State has become inflated with so much pressure, people are absolutely exploding with cliches about it.

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard set the pace: “Now, our backs are against the wall . . . Now, we’ll see what we’re made of.”

Said Haley: “It’s do or die.” Haley’s back was also against the wall when he said it.

The team that turned the once-confident, swaggering Bruins into a bunch of worrywarts is none other than the Arizona State Sun Devils, hardly a cause for concern for most of the season at 3-11 in the Pac-10.

With rare exceptions, such as the Stanford games, playing down to the record level of its opponent has been a season-long UCLA trait. This time, the Bruins got caught.

For the third straight game, UCLA allowed the other team double figures in offensive rebounds. Arizona State had 14, following 15 by USC and 22 by Arizona.

It seemed clear that Patterson’s team was unimpressed with the 11-3, now 11-4, Bruins. At the same time, UCLA seemed to be equally unimpressed with Arizona State. Thomas noticed it.

“I felt strongly they were thinking ‘They’re last in the Pac-10, we’ll just go out there and blow them away,’ “Thomas said.

Thomas had 10 points in 13 minutes of the first half, and ASU led, 36-35. The patient Sun Devils still led, 53-43, with 10:18 to play.

Then the Bruins made their run. Or, as Hazzard described it: “We finally decided to play.”

UCLA caught up using an unusual lineup when Hazzard went with freshman Kevin Walker at center instead of Greg Foster as Haley’s substitute.

After Walker sank a pair of three-pointers and Reggie Miller tipped in two missed shots, the Bruins then moved ahead, 61-59, on two free throws by freshman Trevor Wilson and a long jumper by Montel Hatcher.

Wilson missed the front end of a one-and-one and Bobby Thompson made a three-pointer for a 62-61 Arizona State lead. Walker airballed the next time down and Miller missed the tip-in, much to the surprise of Hazzard.

“I would have bet my life he would have made that shot,” Hazzard said.

It’s a good thing he didn’t, or UCLA would be coachless this morning.

Walker’s two free throws gave UCLA its last lead, 63-62, with 56 seconds left, but Mark Carlino’s tip-in after two other Arizona State offensive rebounds put the Sun Devils in front, 64-63.

When Wilson was fouled with 22 seconds left and made only the second of his two free throws, Arizona State called time out with the score tied at 64 and one last chance to untie it with a last shot.

Thomas looked up with the clock down to four seconds and the ball in his hands. He started to drive to his left but pulled up instead and fired from a right-side angle at about the free-throw line.

“He just rared back and threw it,” Miller said. “I looked up and thought, ‘that stuff is going in.’ ”

Right he was, too. Miller was also right when he said the Bruins came out less than prepared to play basketball.

“We just came out there sleepwalking,” said Miller, who led UCLA with 15 points. “We let them think they could play with us. We should have buried them.”

Bruin Notes

ASU Coach Steve Patterson was obviously pleased with the victory, but he didn’t feel too sorry for UCLA. “I don’t think it will hurt them in the long run,” Patterson said. ‘We needed it worse than they did. I would never have predicted a victory, but on any given night . . . and I guess this was the night.” . . . Guard Pooh Richardson led UCLA with 8 rebounds. Richardson finished with 10 points and 5 assists, but he had only 2 points and 1 assist in the second half.