USC Gets to Top the Long Way, Beats UCLA in Two Overtimes

UCLA dodged a bullet at the end of regulation time and in the first overtime, but USC nailed the Bruins in the second overtime, winning, 78-77, Friday night at the Sports Arena.

USC Coach Stan Morrison said earlier in the week that the Pacific 10 is a crazy conference. It is indeed, and no team has remained in first place for too long.

UCLA had a short reign coming into the game. Now USC is in first with a 6-2 record, followed by UCLA (6-3), Oregon State (5-2) and Arizona and Washington, both 5-3.

A crowd of 13,640 was treated to a tense, lead-changing game between two evenly matched teams.

The score was tied, 58-58, at the end of regulation. It was still tied, 65-65, after the first overtime.

The Trojans had a five-point lead, 74-69, with 2:10 remaining in the second overtime but held on to win. Reserve guard Glenn Smith converted two free throws with 54 seconds to play to provide USC with a 76-73 lead.

After UCLA guard Dave Immel missed on an outside shot, USC’s Derrick Dowell pulled down the rebound with 37 seconds left. Dowell was a force on the boards all night with a career-high 21 rebounds to go with his game-high 24 points.

It appeared that USC would finally put away the stubborn Bruins when Wayne Carlander, a steady, four-year veteran, went to the line with 30 seconds to play.

But the USC forward missed two free throws. UCLA guard Nigel Miguel drove for the basket, trying to draw a foul. He missed but followed his own shot for the basket, making it 76-75, and was fouled by Dowell.

Miguel had a chance to tie the game with 18 seconds to play. But he missed the free throw and Dowell got the rebound.

USC point guard Larry Friend was then fouled in the backcourt and went to the free-throw line on a one-and-one situation with 16 seconds to play. He made both foul shots to provide USC with a three-point lead again.

Friend, who had two teeth extracted this week, went to the line only that one time in the game. It was a pressure situation, but the 5-11 point guard came through.

Earlier in the second overtime, Friend fell down and lost the ball and could have been a goat. Miguel made made two free throws to trim the USC lead to 74-73 with one minute left.

But Smith, who was 4-for-4 from the line in the second overtime, then dropped in two fouls shots six seconds later to give the Trojans the 76-73 cushion. Miguel’s basket, Friend’s foul shot and a basket by Miguel at the buzzer ended the scoring.

USC had lost a chance to go into first place last Monday night at the Sports Arena when it was upset by Stanford, 60-54.

“We never mentioned Stanford all week after the loss,” USC Coach Stan Morrison said. “We just looked forward to the Bruins. In the second half we just played straight up defense and the kids did a nice job of putting pressure on the Bruins.”

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard said it would be a war, and it was.

“Missed layups and free throws. We had it in our hands,” Hazzard said. “We’re not dead. We fought as hard as we could. I’ve seen a lot of games and this was a great one.”

Hazzard said he wouldn’t be surprised if the eventual Pac-10 winner has as many as six losses.

USC had the ball at the end of regulation time and at the end of the first overtime.

The Trojans worked the clock down to the final two seconds in regulation, then center Clayton Olivier got the ball in low and went up for a high-percentage shot.

But UCLA forward Gary Maloncon went up, too, and blocked Olivier’s effort as time ran out. The second overtime was almost a replay of the first. USC had the ball at the end and was working the clock with the score tied, 65-65.

USC took a timeout with 19 seconds to play, and when action resumed, the Trojans probed the UCLA defense.

Friend finally drove to the basket and threw up an awkward shot that hit the rim. Dowell rebounded as time ran out again.

Dowell played an outstanding game, finishing with a career-high 21 rebounds. He also scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, working his way inside to score on follow shots.

Forward Reggie Miller led UCLA with 18 points, and Maloncon pulled down 10 rebounds.

The Bruins had eight-point leads twice in the second half of regulation. But the Trojans went on a 9-0 run to claim the lead at 51-50 with 7:50 to play.

The lead was then exchanged five times with Dowell tying the score at 58-58 with 2:06 to play. Neither team scored in the remaining two minutes.

Friend came up with a big play when he stole the ball from Immel with 1:16 to play. But Olivier couldn’t get his shot down. Maloncon saw to that.

It was also a lead-swapping affair in the first overtime, and Dowell got the last point of the five-minute session on a free throw with 2:39 to play.

UCLA had a chance to pull it out, but center Brad Wright missed on a medium-range jumper with 1:22 to go.

USC led for most of the first half, but, with the Trojans ahead, 21-17, UCLA went on a 12-2 run.

Wright, who got two fouls at the outset of the game and sat down for a while, led the Bruin charge. He broke inside on fast-break layups as UCLA moved out to a 29-23 advantage with 3:35 left in the half.

Olivier turned the ball over during this surge. Dowell shot an air ball, and Olivier missed on a 20-foot shot, which is out of his range.

But the Trojans outscored the Bruins the rest of the half. Carlander got a layup, Smith hit a jumper in the lane and Olivier made a free throw.

Then, with time expiring, Smith hit from 23 feet out, and USC trailed only 33-30 at halftime.

USC had started out fast, leading, 10-3, but the Bruins caught up at 11-11. The Trojans pulled away again and had four- to five-point leads before the Bruins went on their 12-2 tear. Immel, UCLA’s reserve guard, was a spark for the Bruins. He came into the game with his team trailing, 10-3, and, in one stretch of seven UCLA baskets, he assisted on four and got two himself.

Carlander, an All-Pac-10 forward, scored only four points in the first half on 2-of-6 shooting. He was tracked by Miguel, the Bruins’ defensive stopper. Still, Carlander missed some open shots that he usually makes.

Miller led the Bruins with nine points and Wright had seven. Wright made three of his four shots.

Dowell was USC’s leading scorer with eight points, while Holmes had seven.

USC shot 50% from the field compared to UCLA’s 45.2%. But the Bruins took five more shots than the Trojans. It was a standoff on the boards at 17-17.