Bruins Rack Up Easy Win in Miami

Even after a 16-14 season, expectations are rarely lowered for the UCLA basketball team, as Coach Jim Harrick is quickly finding out.

After only their second game under Harrick, a 91-66 dismantling of Miami Thursday night, the Bruins were declared superior to the eight teams that directly preceded them in Westwood, two of which won Pacific 10 Conference championships and another that won the NIT.

“This is the best team they’ve had since their ’80 club,” said Miami Coach Bill Foster, who was coaching at Clemson in 1980 when the Bruins upset the Tigers in the West Regional final to reach the Final Four.

That would be the Bruins led by Kiki Vandeweghe, who lost in the final to Louisville during UCLA’s last appearance in the Final Four.

Foster, who is leading the revival of a Hurricane program that was reinstated in 1985 after a 14-year absence, had reason to be impressed.

The Bruins limited a team that had scored 108 points in each of its first 2 games, victories over Maryland Eastern Shore and Oral Roberts, to only 39.4% shooting, and outrebounded the Hurricanes, 47-23.

Freshman Don MacLean led the Bruins with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Kevin Walker got 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Pooh Richardson, in a masterful performance, had 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.

It was 52-31 at halftime and only got worse after that as a crowd of 6,023 at the Miami Arena, the Hurricanes’ largest since the return of the game here, saw the Bruins stretch their lead to as many as 29 points without Trevor Wilson, who was in foul trouble.

“I just like the way they play,” Foster said. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They handle the ball, pass it well, and the two big guys (MacLean and Walker) shoot the ball probably as well as any two big guys in the country, so they’re very difficult matchups.

“I just think they’re going to be a really good club. I like them. They’ve got great senior leadership (from Richardson), they’ve got the two big kids who are hard to defend and they’ve got good athletes at short forward (in Wilson) and at the off-guard (Kevin Williams).”

Harrick seemed to be caught off guard by Foster’s comments.

“We’re doing things well right now,” he allowed after the Bruins’ most lopsided road victory since they beat Stanford, 93-62, two seasons ago.

How good is Miami?

Well, after losing to the Hurricanes Monday night, Oral Roberts defeated LSU Wednesday night at Baton Rouge, La.

Miami can’t be that bad.

But by playing tight defense, staying patient on offense and crashing the offensive boards--UCLA pulled down 17 offensive rebounds--the Bruins were able to break Miami like so many candy ‘Canes.

The Hurricanes prefer a transition game, but UCLA wouldn’t let them run. “I thought Richardson kind of dominated the game,” Harrick said. “He did a tremendous job of getting us into our offense.

“When we run our offense and score, it really takes them out of what they like to do. And we saw by scouting them that rebounding is their Achilles’ heel. I think we hurt them real bad there.”

Hurt them so bad, in fact, that Foster wasn’t sure where to stop praising Harrick’s players and start rapping his own.

“Basically, we got our rear ends kicked on the boards,” he said. “We didn’t give a good effort, and I can’t tell you why. It was kind of like we were sleepwalking through (and thinking), ‘Gee, this is UCLA. Let’s not get too close. They might burn us.’ ”

In the first half, Miami guard Thomas Hocker had 3 rebounds and forwards Dennis Burns and Eric Brown had only 1 each.

“That’s not a good omen,” Foster said.

Neither, from Foster’s point of view, was UCLA’s ability to dictate the tempo before the partisan Miami crowd.

“I don’t mind getting beat if I feel we gave a good effort,” Foster said. “But our kids can’t feel good coming out of this one.”

UCLA’s can, of course.

The Bruins are 2-0, including last Saturday’s 84-62 rout of Texas Tech, and are playing with confidence as they venture forth to meet Brigham Young, defending champion of the Western Athletic Conference, Saturday at Provo, Utah.

“We have a lot more cohesiveness than last year--a lot more structure and a little more discipline,” Walker said. “Everything is falling into place.”

It’s still a little early to make lasting impressions, of course, but the Bruins are showing promise.

The problem is in trying to live up to past achievements.

Bruin Notes

Despite the poor shooting of Trevor Wilson, who made only 1 of 9 shots in 23 minutes, UCLA shot 53.6%. . . . Miami, which made 10 of 19 3-point shots against Oral Roberts, made only 2 of 14 against UCLA. . . . Reserve forward Charles Rochelin had 9 points and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes for UCLA. . . . Mark Richardson made 9 of 13 shots and led Miami with 18 points. . . . Pooh Richardson, on his role as the Bruins’ leader: “It brings out the best in you if the coach says to you, ‘OK, here’s the ball. We’re going to live and die by the decisions you make.’ I respond to that very well.” . . . UCLA, which plays Brigham Young Saturday at Provo, Utah, has lost 4 of its last 6 games against the Cougars.