UCLA Has Another Off Night, and This Time It Loses, 93-86

Having played with fire for more than a month, tempting fate by sashaying through several mediocre opponents, the UCLA basketball team was bound to get burned sooner or later.

Thursday night came the scorching.

“We probably had it coming, too,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said of a 93-86 loss to Arizona State in front of 4,844 at the University Activity Center.

UCLA had stumbled and bumbled for several weeks against the dregs of the Pacific 10 Conference--Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon, USC.

Always, though, it had won.

But, as Harrick said, “You just can’t do that continually and have the ball bounce your way every single time.”

Finally, it didn’t.

With 28 seconds left and the Bruins trailing, 89-86, Pooh Richarson missed a three-point shot from the right side.

Simultaneously, Arizona State’s Alex Austin and UCLA’s Don MacLean came up with the rebound, but the possession arrow favored ASU.

The score remained the same, though, when Arizona State’s Matt Anderson missed a free throw with 21 seconds left.

Richardson had another chance, but this time his three-point attempt hit the heel of the rim and bounced back out beyond the top of the key.

About 10 seconds remained.

Richardson came up with the ball, but as he moved into position for still another three-point attempt, Austin stripped him of the ball.

As Trevor Wilson intentionally fouled Austin, Harrick erupted along the sideline, charging onto the court and drawing a technical foul.

“You can’t just go after the ball and rip his arm off,” Harrick said. “I mean, (Austin) fouled (Richardson). Flat-out fouled him.”

Richardson didn’t think so.

“He came from behind and I just lost it,” said Richardson, who equaled a UCLA record with 14 assists, but made only six of 15 shots. “You could have called a foul on anybody. We were all just scuffling for it.”

At any rate, Austin then made four free throws with four seconds left and UCLA’s six-game winning streak, its longest of the season, had ended.

The Bruins, who play Arizona Saturday at Tucson, had been ambushed amid the cactuses and tumbleweeds, all right, but two days earlier than expected.

They squandered a nine-point second-half lead, allowing Sun Devil forward Trent Edwards, in particular, to punish them inside. Edwards scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, making eight of nine shots.

When did UCLA feel the game slipping away? “Throughout the whole game, when we didn’t contain their inside game,” said Wilson, who had 25 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in 31 minutes. “Coach emphasized in practice that they were just going to pound it inside. It was no surprise. We just didn’t execute our defense.”

Arizona State, which trailed by nine with 15:23 remaining, caught the Bruins at 68-68 on a jumper by Anderson with 8:25 left.

The crowd erupted.

“They haven’t been this loud all year,” said a Phoenix reporter who covers the Sun Devils. “It sounds like Tucson.”

Or at least a nightmare preview for the Bruins.

ASU kept pounding the ball into the paint.

“I told them I wanted nothing but shots inside,” said Arizona State’s interim coach, Bob Schermerhorn. “We got it down there and stopped shooting dumb shots. We shot dumb shots in the first half.”

When UCLA, spread thin by foul trouble, finally denied the Sun Devils an entry pass, Ron Waller stepped up in front of the ASU bench and hit a three-point shot, giving ASU an 87-84 lead with 1:49 left.

Richardson made a jumper to pull the Bruins to within 87-86, but Waller, ASU’s worst free-throw shooter, then made two foul shots with 0:41 left.

Richardson couldn’t hit again.

The loss dropped UCLA to 16-6 overall and 10-3 in the Pac-10 and all but ensured a second straight conference title for Arizona, which improved to 13-1 Thursday night with a 93-70 victory over USC.

For Schermerhorn and the Sun Devils, the victory was cause for celebration. Arizona State is only 12-11 overall and 5-9 in the Pac-10.

Schermerhorn, who took over Feb. 4 when former Coach Steve Patterson resigned under pressure, reportedly was being watched by officials of Chapman College in Orange, who are looking for a coach.

But, as Schermerhorn walked back out onto the floor afterward for a radio postgame show, several fans chanted, “We want ‘Horn, We want ‘Horn.”

Schermerhorn, though, didn’t want to discuss his job status.

Let him enjoy the moment.

“I said Monday we’d win,” Schermerhorn said. “I said Tuesday, ‘I’m not sure.’ Wednesday I wasn’t sure and (Thursday) I was nervous.”

Today, he’s elated.

Harrick and the Bruins, of course, are anything but.

“Sometimes, it catches up with you,” Harrick said.

Bruin Notes

Alex Austin’s steal with four seconds left was Pooh Richardson’s only turnover. . . . UCLA’s Don MacLean had 20 points and 11 rebounds, the first time since Jan. 8 that he had reached double figures in rebounds. MacLean also was whistled for a technical foul in the first half when he threw the ball at referee Jerry White. . . . Richardson’s 14 assists enabled him to equal a UCLA record he already shared with Roy Hamilton, Greg Lee and Andre McCarter. Richardson has equaled the record three times.

Among the officials was Willis McJunkin, whose controversial goaltending call against Louisville Sunday gave UCLA a 77-75 victory. In the first half Thursday, when UCLA’s Trevor Wilson was called for goaltending, a fan shouted at McJunkin: “Now that was a goaltend, Willis.”

UCLA’s Kevin Williams has not practiced since he tore cartilage in his left knee Sunday and said that he probably would have arthroscopic surgery next week. “The way it feels, I’ll probably get it done Tuesday,” he said.