UCLA Beats Boston as Walker Suffers an Ankle Injury

Into every life a little rain must fall . . .

Even when you’re unbeaten, have survived your toughest test of the season and are off to your best start in 6 years.

For the UCLA basketball team, it fell in the form of an ankle injury to junior center Kevin Walker, who hobbled off the court less than 1 minute into the second half of the Bruins’ 85-74 victory over Boston University Wednesday night before a crowd of 7,421 at Pauley Pavilion.

Walker, who turned his right ankle while attempting to keep the ball in play along the baseline in front of the UCLA bench, returned midway through the half after having the ankle re-taped, but limped noticeably.

One of the Bruins’ best outside shooters, he missed badly on a 3-point shot and was taken out after only 43 seconds.

“I just rolled it,” Walker said. “I don’t know if it’s my shoes or my ankle, but I’ve been having problems with my ankles. I thought that I could go, but I couldn’t take the pounding. I didn’t have any legs.”

Walker’s injury took some of the luster off a victory that improved the Bruins’ record to 4-0, their best start since the 1982-83 team won its first 6 games before losing in double overtime at Maryland.

And it somewhat overshadowed a brilliant performance by forward Trevor Wilson, who followed up his 25-point, 14-rebound effort against Brigham Young Saturday by scoring a career-high 32 points (on 12-of-14 shooting) and getting a game-high 12 rebounds.

“Trevor Wilson is the heart and soul of this UCLA team,” Boston Coach Mike Jarvis said. “I said to our kids before the game: ‘If we do a good job on him, we’ll win.’ ”

They didn’t, and the Terriers’ record fell to 3-2.

Wilson’s steal, length-of-the-court drive and soaring tomahawk dunk capped a 9-0 run for UCLA at the start of the second half that increased the Bruins’ lead to 52-40 and brought the crowd to its feet.

“The steal was as impressive as the dunk,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “He’s really got quick hands. I knew from the first dribble what was going to happen (after he stole the ball).”

The Bruins maintained their lead throughout the second half against a team that was 23-8 last season, won the ECAC North Atlantic Conference tournament and established school records for victories and winning percentage, .742.

And they did it behind Wilson, who improved his game a notch on a night when Don MacLean struggled through his worst game. MacLean, who led the Bruins in scoring in each of their first 3 games, had 14 points and 9 rebounds but made only 3 of 12 shots.

“Trevor had an exceptional game for us,” Harrick said.

Also exceptional, said Harrick, was Pooh Richardson’s play against Boston’s leading scorer, Jeff Timberlake, whose average of 20.3 points a game took a beating as he made only 2 of 16 shots and scored 8 points.

“Probably the difference in the game was Pooh’s defense of Timberlake,” Harrick said.

Wilson scored 9 points and Walker made 2 3-point shots as UCLA gained a 15-7 lead, but Boston caught up almost immediately, using a 10-2 run to make it 17-17 with 12 minutes 37 seconds left in the first half.

The lead changed hands 6 times before halftime, with UCLA building a 43-38 advantage on a 3-point play and 2 free throws by MacLean, who had missed his first 4 shots and was benched for 3 minutes midway through the half.

MacLean’s drought ended 3:54 before halftime, after Richardson stripped the ball from guard Tony DaCosta, who led the Terriers with a career-high 30 points, and drove to the other end before feeding a no-look pass to the freshman forward for a dunk.

MacLean also scored UCLA’s next 7 points, and the Bruins, who got 16 points and 6 rebounds from Wilson in the first 20 minutes, led at halftime, 43-40, despite being outrebounded by the smaller Terriers, 21-13.

Bruin Notes

UCLA will not play for 10 days, which will give Kevin Walker a chance to rest his ankle before meeting North Carolina Dec. 17 at Chapel Hill, N.C. In their only previous game at Chapel Hill, under former coach Walt Hazzard, the Bruins absorbed the worst loss in their history, a 117-70 pounding in 1985, during which they were outscored, 63-32, in the second half, and North Carolina’s Brad Daugherty made all 13 of his shots and scored 31 points. The game was supposed to have inaugurated North Carolina’s 21,444-seat Dean Smith Center, but the arena wasn’t ready, so the Bruins and Tar Heels played at North Carolina’s former home, 10,000-seat Carmichael Auditorium.

Afterward, Hazzard said he wouldn’t be able to erase the loss “until I walk the streets and find somebody to fight,” and suggested that the series be canceled. “Why should I beat my brains out?” he said. “I’m going to do everything I can to cancel it or find another job.”

UCLA beat North Carolina in 1986 and lost to the Tar Heels last season, 80-73, in games at Pauley Pavilion. . . . Charles Rochelin filled in for Walker and, in his longest stint of the season, had 13 points and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes. . . . UCLA made only 59.5% of its free throws, sinking only 13 of 24 in the second half.