Miller’s Time Comes in UCLA Win : After Slow Start, Bruin Scores 32 as Loyola Falls, 85-79

Loyola Marymount got off to a blazing start while UCLA forward Reggie Miller, of all people, was looking as cold as he could possibly look.

But that was early. It didn’t last.

Miller finally warmed up to score his career high, 32 points, and UCLA rallied to beat Loyola Marymount, 85-79, before 7,928 fans at Pauley Pavilion Friday night.

UCLA’s record went to 4-2 going into tonight’s 6 o’clock home game against Miami of Florida. Loyola Marymount dropped to 6-3.

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard was happy to get away with the victory against a team he called “dangerous.”

A team like Loyola Marymount, coming in with everything to gain and nothing to lose and playing a fast-paced, cast-all-fate-to-the-wind type of offense, does tend to make a coach nervous.

“It was run-and-gun all the way,” Hazzard said. “It was like schoolyard basketball--the guy who has the first shot takes the jumper. That’s dangerous. If they hit a hot streak and you go cold, you’re in trouble.”

The Bruins would have done well to slow the pace by taking more time at their own offensive end, but as Hazzard admits, it’s a young team that needs to learn patience.

“Loyola Marymount doesn’t run much of a half-court offense,” Hazzard said. “They like a hot pace where everybody has the green light. . . . They don’t play much defense. They play defense with one foot ready to go to the offensive end. Against a team like that, if you make five passes, you get a good shot.”

But the Bruins didn’t always make five passes, and Loyola had the upper hand through most of the first half.

The game took an abrupt change of direction with 7 minutes 36 seconds left in the first half when UCLA took its first lead of the game.

Twice Loyola Marymount had a seven-point lead, and twice UCLA closed the gap.

The Bruins were making a run at Loyola Marymount’s five-point lead when backup center Jack Haley grabbed an offensive rebound, giving the ball to Montel Hatcher for a shot from the left corner that put the Bruins up, 27-26.

Loyola Marymount Coach Paul Westhead was off the bench, immediately, getting a technical foul.

Miller made the two free throws for the technical and the Bruins were up by three and rolling.

Miller’s shot from the right corner put the Bruins up by five before Smith answered with a 15-foot jumper.

But the Bruins held the momentum, leaning strongly on the outside shooting of Hatcher, to build a 15-point lead by halftime.

UCLA freshman point guard Pooh Richardson, who was making his first start, could see why Miller was having trouble in the early going and helped him solve it by going to guard Montel Hatcher.

“I was looking to Montel because they were playing Reggie with a box-and-one, denying him the ball,” Richardson said. “We had to show them that Montel is a real player, too, and Montel did that. (Hatcher finished with 16 points).

“When Montel started hitting those shots, they couldn’t just concentrate on Reggie any more and we got him involved in the game again. That’s going to happen a lot this year.”

Hatcher said: “At the end of the first half, it was a combination of things. One was that the pace was hot and I was getting open a lot and the other was that Pooh was finding me.”

UCLA led, 49-34, at the half, and Loyola Marymount never did catch up after that, although the Lions made an impressive run at it in the final minutes.

With less than two minutes to play, center Vic Lazzaretti (who had his career high with 15 points) scored on a rebound to put Loyola Marymount within 75-69.

But the Bruins countered with a dazzling lob pass from Corey Gaines that Miller dropped in to stretch the lead to eight again.

A free throw by Richardson stretched it to nine points, and it was a coaches’ game of strategy the rest of the way with Loyola Marymount getting no closer than four points with three seconds to play.

Both of Loyola’s star players were held below their averages. Forward Forrest McKenzie, who averages 20 points a game, was held to 16, and Keith Smith, who averages 25.4, scored 23.

Hazzard said: “I thought both Smith and McKenzie did a good job. They’re a good team. We needed to play a close game and win it. . . .

“It’s a win. We’ll take it.”

Miller, who had a very off game the last time out, hitting just 4 of 15 shots from the field against St. John’s, got off to a slow start against Loyola before coming around to finish with his career high, hitting 9 of 18 from the field and 14 of 15 free throws.

The 14 free throws set a Pauley Pavilion record for free throws made. He had had a share of the record before with 12.

Miller said: “It looked like it might be a two-game slump? Not me. I hope not, anyway. I was going to come back.

“I took the St. John’s game personally. As Coach says, the great ones come back from games like St. John’s.”