When UCLA Needs a Break, USC Provides

The question has been repeatedly asked this season, “What’s wrong with the UCLA basketball team?”

Such a query wouldn’t be relevant if UCLA could play USC frequently.

The Bruins may be having their problems, but they’re a decidedly better team than the Trojans--at least they were Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA ran away from USC at the start of the game and never looked back, winning easily, 81-65, before a crowd of 11,425.

For the UCLA faithful, it was like the old days when the Bruins routinely routed the Trojans and every other team on their home court.

However, UCLA still has a losing record at 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the Pacific 10.

USC is going in the other direction with a 3-11 overall record, 1-4 in the conference. But the Trojans haven’t hit bottom because Washington lost to Stanford Thursday night to remain winless in the Pac-10 at 0-4.

UCLA forward Craig Jackson got the Bruins started fast, making seven of his team’s first nine points while the Trojans went scoreless.

The Bruins led, 42-32, at halftime, and the Trojans couldn’t make a serious run in the second half.

UCLA was comfortably in front, 67-57, with 8:06 left when the Bruins went into another gear and buried the Trojans.

Kevin Walker, a reserve forward, sank a three-point shot from the corner. Then, UCLA’s new starting center, Kelvin Butler, drove the baseline for a field goal. UCLA forward Trevor Wilson made an acrobatic block of USC center Chris Munk’s shot, and point guard Pooh Richardson went the other way on a breakaway layup.

That spurt improved UCLA’s lead to 74-57, emphasizing that the better team was in control.

The Bruins benefited from balanced scoring with six players in double figures. Butler had a career-high 15 points, Walker had 13 (3 for 3 on three-point shots), and Wilson, Richardson and guard Dave Immel each had 12 points. Jackson finished with 10.

“I was really pleased with our seniors,” UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard said. “Craig Jackson had a great start, and Kelvin Butler was outstanding on the boards early.

“We were looking for each other tonight. We were unselfish and worked hard on both ends of the court. We battled and worked hard for 40 minutes.

“I don’t think it was a dominating performance, but I think it was a good performance.”

If not dominating, it certainly was convincing.

USC Coach George Raveling said three things stood out in his mind in Thursday night’s game.

“One was the early run they got on us,” he said. “That made us dig down and try to come back all during the first half. Then, we’d get the lead down to six to eight points, and we couldn’t hit our foul shots. And finally, it was our inability to play good defense. UCLA played well together, and we didn’t.”

Even though USC is struggling, Raveling said he refuses to become negative.

“I’m just going to do the best job I can. Any criticism, I will endure. No one can be more unhappy, or hurt as much as me and the players. We’ll try as hard as we can. We don’t have many options at this point.”

USC shot 41.8% for the game. UCLA shot 51.8%.

Forward Chris Moore was the most active Trojan. He scored 18 points but was only 10 of 19 from the free-throw line. No other Trojan starter went to the free-throw line. Moore was supported by Munk, who had a career-high 17 points.

“The free throws had a lot to do with us losing,” Moore said. “They did a lot of fouling, and I tried to penetrate more, but it just came down to not making the free throws.”

Richardson, who had a career-high 10 rebounds from his guard position, said the Bruins were like a well-oiled machine.

“I think we were fired up for this game,” he said. “Just like in football, USC tends to play a little over their heads in this game, and we knew we had to be ready. We came together when we had to.”

With the victory, Hazzard has a 4-3 edge over the Trojans. Raveling, in his second season as USC’s coach, is 0-3 against the Bruins.