Comeback Victory Means Berth of a New UCLA Era

It was a celebration without scissors, a title-clinching victory that did not include the twine.

UCLA beat Oregon, 74-67, on Saturday before 12,341 at Pauley Pavilion to lock up its third consecutive Pacific 10 title, the crowd swarmed the floor and somebody dragged a ladder to the traditional spot under the basket.

But the nets stayed on the rim--and the Bruins’ eyes stayed on the prize.

Nobody was going to dance back on the court to slice the nets and form conga lines with the fans, not while Cameron Dollar was in charge of that locker room, not with two regular-season games left.

“They looked at me, and I’m like, ‘C’mon, you know I’m not cutting down any nets,’ ” the senior point guard said. “There was no question--we weren’t cutting down no nets.

“It’s like if you want to go to 75th Street, you’re not happy when you get to 73rd. We’re nowhere near where we want to be.”

Technically, USC and Arizona can end the regular season in a tie with UCLA and claim a co-championship, but because the Bruins swept both teams, the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament--and recognition as league champion--goes to UCLA.

UCLA (19-7, 13-3), which won its seventh consecutive game, is the first team to win three consecutive outright Pac-10 titles since Oregon State did it from 1980-82. The Bruins won 13 consecutive league titles beginning in 1966-67.

But the 10th-ranked Bruins, who scorched the Pac-10 last year only to fall in the first round of the NCAA tournament, were looking beyond the league.

“We’re not satisfied with winning the Pac-10 championship,” said senior forward Charles O’Bannon, who finished his Pauley career with a game-high 23 points.

“It’s just one step. The next level is winning one tournament game, then after that it’s winning two tournament games, and after that . . . “

Almost certainly, one of those tournament steps will come against a team that throws a zone defense at the Bruins, especially after the Bruins shot only 42.2% against Oregon’s zone Saturday and struggled against Oregon State’s zone on Thursday.

Princeton zoned UCLA last March, and remember what happened then?

“They shot 28% against Oregon State [when the Beavers zoned], and they struggled against it,” said Oregon Coach Jerry Green, who didn’t use a zone against the Bruins during the Ducks’ overtime victory in Eugene on Jan. 30. “We felt that if we showed it early and they were not successful right off the bat, we’d stick with it.

“If I had to play them on a neutral court, I’d think about playing the zone because man to man, one on one, they’re a load for a lot of people to handle.”

The Ducks (16-10, 7-10) scored the first seven points of the game, and, as UCLA stood around on offense and fired away from the outside, Oregon grabbed the rebounds and raced to a stunning 27-11 lead with 10:05 to play in the half.

Late in the first half, Oregon, led by Jamal Lawrence’s 10 first-half points (and 17 overall), had a 13-point lead after converting three free throws when J.R. Henderson was whistled for a technical foul for slamming the ball on the floor after a foul call.

Though UCLA closed it to 36-33 by halftime, the Bruins made only 32.4% of their shots in the first half--including identical two-for-sevens by all three of their guards, Toby Bailey, Dollar and designated zone-buster Brandon Loyd. The Bruins were five for 19 on three-point shots in the half.

“It wasn’t because of the zone, it was because we had a horrible shooting day,” said Bailey, who ended up with 16 points (12 in the second half).

“There aren’t many games where I’m going to shoot one for eight from three-point range.”

After Loyd banged his knee late in the first half, and Kris Johnson’s seasonlong ankle injury flared up again, two of UCLA’s best shooters were unavailable for the second half, though both said they could have played in an emergency basis and shouldn’t sit out any more action.

But UCLA, playing with only one substitute (and with the sub, Bob Myers, playing only four minutes), decided to work it inside in the second half, with Henderson scoring 11 of his 15 points.

“I guess our wings got excited for a little while,” said Henderson, who grabbed nine rebounds, the same as O’Bannon. “We were trying to get Loyd some shots, but you can’t do it like that: Just pass it to him, here, shoot.

“You’ve got to work it inside-outside to get better shots. I hope our wings learned that you can’t just come out shooting.”

Bruin Coach Steve Lavin--who still hasn’t lost since UCLA removed his interim title--said he looks forward to teams zoning UCLA in the tournament.

“I hope they do,” Lavin said. “When teams zone, we don’t make turnovers. Today we had eight, a season low. We make better decisions, we tend to get better looks against the zone than man to man. With our size, we can pass it down low, then kick it out for easy shots.

“But I don’t think we’ll be fortunate enough to have them play zone against us.”

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Champs, Then. . .

A look at how UCLA fared in the NCAA tournament recently when it won the Pac-10 championship.

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Year Pac-10 Record Overall Tournament 1978-79 15-3 25-5 Lost in West Regional final (DuPaul) 1982-83 15-3 23-6 Lost in first round (Utah) 1986-87 14-4 25-7 Lost in second round (Wyoming) 1991-92 16-2 28-5 Lost in West Regional final (Indiana) 1994-95 16-2 31-2 Won NCAA championship 1995-96 16-2 23-8 Lost in first round(Princeton)

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