Holiday Cheer Is Missing at UCLA

The mood in the UCLA locker room Wednesday night was festive, maybe because the Bruins had final exams behind them and Christmas break ahead.

But they had no reason to celebrate what took place in the game itself, a horrible showing in the 66-56 victory over American of Washington, D.C., before 7,442 at Pauley Pavilion that watched the No. 12 team in the nation get outscored in the second half and outrebounded in the game by a group of unknowns who showed far more heart.

“It was a pretty poor performance across the board,” said Coach Steve Lavin, who kept the locker room closed for about 30 minutes after the conclusion. “I told them if we were going to grade ourselves, we would give ourselves failing grades in most every aspect of the game.”

American (3-8) was coming off a 15-point loss to USC, but was within six points of the Bruins (7-2) with 3:18 remaining after scoring on seven consecutive possessions. The Eagles were still down only 57-50 with 1:40 left, before UCLA, playing without injured center Dan Gadzuric, took control for good.

“Very disappointing,” Bruin swingman Ray Young said. “There’s nothing you can say. No excuses. We just came out and had a very poor performance.

“All I did was sit there, shaking my head and wonder, ‘What’s going on?’ It was like somebody else took our minds and our bodies. It was very disappointing.”

Gadzuric had been battling the tendinitis all season, but it had not previously forced him out of a game.

He had sat out practices, including the one on Tuesday that also came as Matt Barnes (sprained ankle), Ryan Bailey (flu) and Sean Farnham (dehydration) also rested.

Come Wednesday, the three others were called upon in the first half, even the seldom-used Farnham, but Gadzuric remained on the bench in uniform.

That meant another new starting lineup for the Bruins, already their seventh in the nine games. Only twice had they used one two games in a row.

This one again had Jerome Moiso and JaRon Rush on the front line, for the third contest in row, but added Rico Hines in a three-guard alignment along with Baron Davis and Earl Watson. It was the third start for Hines, but the first since Nov. 28 against Kentucky at the Puerto Rico Shootout.

Hines was high school teammates with American’s Bobby Thompson and played in the same city as another Eagle freshmen, Hasheem Alexander, after transferring to a school in Virginia. That was located about 20 minutes from the American campus in Washington, D.C., and the current coach there, Art Perry, was an assistant at Maryland when the Terrapins recruited Hines.

So the timing of the promotion worked out well for Hines.

No one could have imagined the Bruins struggling against American, not to be confused with the school by the same name in Puerto Rico that hosted the Thanksgiving tournament and recently forfeited a game to Oklahoma after a fight.

The Eagles came in 3-7 and on a six-game losing streak and were two days removed from a 74-59 loss to USC at the Sports Arena.

But even after they opened by missing their first six shots and committing seven turnovers, managing only a pair of free throws in the first six minutes, the Eagles remained close.

American trailed just 28-17 late in the opening half, a low score that came without benefit of a slow-down plan, only with poor play.

The Eagles shot 27.8% in the first 20 minutes and had a staggering 16 turnovers and only one assist. That made the 43.3% and eight assists and seven turnovers by UCLA seem sparkling.

The early highlight for the Bruins came with the game five minutes old, when Davis came down on a fast break, got caught in the air in the lane, threw a shot high off the backboard so that it came right back to him. Davis controlled the carom with both hands and, without landing, tossed it in.

Even more meaningful, though, were the consecutive three-pointers by Young and Watson that turned a nine-point lead into a 34-19 cushion with 2:02 left in the half. It was 36-19 at the break.

American outscored UCLA, 37-30, from there, which was impressive, but not enough to overcome the deficit. The Eagles finished with 26 turnovers against five assists and shot 37.3%. The Bruins had 17 turnovers and 14 assists.

* TERRIFIC TERRAPINS: Maryland, ranked No. 5, defeated North Texas, 132-57, the largest margin of victory in school history. Page 3