Overtime Victory Puts UCLA Atop the Pac-10

All right, guess how many losses will still win the Pacific 10 basketball title. Start counting.

“Four,” Reggie Miller said.

“Five,” Walt Hazzard said.

“Six,” Ralph Miller said.

Anybody for seven? No, nobody said that. Seven is probably counting too high. Miller the Oregon State coach, not Miller the UCLA player picks six as the number.

But six conference losses?

“The way things are going, that’s a real possibility,” he said.

On the same subject, UCLA avoided the very real possibility of a most unexpected defeat Sunday by blowing every bit of a 22-point lead at Pauley Pavilion, then holding on to beat Oregon State, 69-67, in overtime on an 18-footer by Miller, the UCLA player, with one second left.

The Bruins, who led, 32-10, after 15 minutes, only to experience a second-half spell in which they scored exactly four points in 10:50, probably did not deserve to wake up this morning where they do--in first place.

“We are very fortunate to be where we are in light of our inconsistencies,” said Hazzard. “We were lucky to escape with our lives today.”

As it turns out, the Bruins escaped with both with their skins and a win, their eighth in a row and eighth without a loss at Pauley Pavilion this season. The victory put them all alone atop the Pac-10 standings at 6-2. And no matter what happened to UCLA in the second half against the Beavers, the Bruins still won and that’s just going to have to be enough for right now.

But do they have to make it look so hard?

Last Sunday at Tucson, Craig Jackson hit the game-winning jump shot with a second left. Now, Reggie is doing it.

With 16 seconds remaining in overtime, Jose Ortiz, the Puerto Rican Oregonian, scored on his own rebound to tie the game on his 31st points of the game, 67-67.

Pooh Richardson pushed the ball upcourt quickly and found Miller on the left wing. Reggie, who was in single-coverage, pump-faked Earl Martin into the air and let loose with a jumper from just inside the three-point line.

Bingo. The message?, “You shouldn’t leave me open like that,” Miller said. “I was surprised only one man was there because I was expecting a double-team, but it was just Martin and I did a fake and he went up in the air.”

And when he came down, it was all over. Actually, it had looked all over a whole lot earlier than that in the first half when, for some reason, the Beavers actually tried to run with the Bruins.

Miller, the Oregon State coach, was asked what had happened.

“It’s called game plan,” Miller said. “I don’t know whose game plan it was, but it wasn’t the coaching staff’s.”

At least the Beavers were having some fun with their new game plan.

They committed three turnovers in their first five possessions. They went 8:10 without scoring a single point. And when Ortiz finally ended the drought with a slam dunk, he was charged with a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

Even the way the first half ended was pretty funny and forced a smile on Ralph Miller’s face. Richardson shot from half-court, thinking time was almost out, but there were still five seconds left. The ball slammed off the glass backboard and bounced directly to Dave Immel, who scored a layup.

But in the second half, the laugh was very nearly on the Bruins. When Charles Rochelin hit a baseline jumper at 14:59, UCLA was ahead, 50-33. It took only about 10 minutes for the Beavers to catch up.

Ortiz and freshman guard Gary Payton, who had 18 points and 12 assists, shot the Beavers right back into it while the Bruins either committed turnovers or forced bad shots.

“I’ll bet I missed five layups myself,” Reggie Miller said. “Those are money.”

Both teams had what looked like winning shots in the last minute of regulation. Bill Sherwood gave the Beavers their first lead, 59-58, on a three-pointer with 34 seconds left. But Miller came right back and dropped a no-hesitation-three-pointer for a 61-59 UCLA lead with 18 seconds remaining.

The way it was being played, this game needed an overtime, so that’s what happened. Ortiz sank two free throws with seven seconds left to tie the score at 61.

UCLA had one last chance to get away without an extra period, but Richardson traveled with a second left. Referee Robert Sitout called the violation, overruling official Ron Omori, who had called a foul on Martin on the same play.

The Beavers led, 65-64, in overtime when Miller missed a reverse layup, but freshman Kevin Walker stole the rebound from Ortiz, scored and was fouled. Walker’s free throw finished a three-point play.

Walker, who had played only 56 minutes all season, was in there because Hazzard had one very good reason.

“Just a feeling I had,” Hazzard said.

At the other end of the hall, Ortiz also had a feeling and it wasn’t a nice one.

“This really hurts,” he said. “We made such a good effort coming back and almost won, but we didn’t. I think we’re just all even in this conference. Every team can beat every other team. It’s going to be a tough one. Just like this one was.”

Bruin Notes

Reggie Miller, who was supposed to be on his best behavior, was called for a deliberate foul after he gave Oregon State’s Bill Sherwood a two-handed shove. “I don’t like guys who pressure me like that,” Miller said. “Someone got him later, though, I think.” Jack Haley caught Sherwood in the throat with an elbow in the second half. Ralph Miller, the Oregon State Coach, was asked if he knew what happened to Sherwood. “Sure, well, he just get belted in the face, that’s all,” the coach said. . . . Reggie Miller’s 19 points pushed him a point past Gail Goodrich for fourth place on UCLA’s career scoring list (1,691). . . . UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard did not start Trevor Wilson at forward, but Wilson still led UCLA with 11 rebounds. Pooh Richardson had 9, which was four more than Bruin centers Jack Haley and Greg Foster. . . . UCLA’s next game is Saturday in Pauley against Notre Dame. . . . UCLA is now 11-4 overall while Oregon State fell to 4-3 in the conference and 11-4 overall. . . . Hazzard is giving the Bruins the day off today, their first in 18 days.