Reserve Adds Oil as Creaky UCLA Sputters, 83-74

If the NCAA approves a proposal by its President’s Commission that would reduce the number of regular-season basketball games a team can play from 28 to 25, matchups such as the one Saturday at Pauley Pavilion between UCLA and San Diego probably would be a thing of the past.

They would hardly be missed.

UCLA fiddled and fumbled before overpowering the outmanned Toreros in the last eight minutes of an 83-74 victory before 5,714.

“We certainly are interested in winning, but at this time of the season, we are not that interested in the score,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “We are a developing team, and we want to get ready for the conference.”

In other words, UCLA approached the game almost as if it were a scrimmage, which, for the most part, is what it resembled.

“I wanted to look at different combinations, and that can cause some inconsistencies,” Harrick said.

The combination that worked best included freshman Mitchell Butler, a reserve guard who sparked an 18-4 surge that turned a one-point game into a rout.

Butler started the spurt with a three-point play that gave UCLA a 62-58 lead with 7:56 left. He ended it about four minutes later with another three-point play that increased the Bruins’ advantage to 77-62.

Butler’s second three-point play, which capped an 11-0 run, was preceded by his spectacular block. He came from the other side of the lane to knock away a shot by Craig Cottrell.

Butler retrieved the ball, whipped it ahead to Darrick Martin and took a return pass in the lane for a driving layup.

Cottrell fouled him and Butler also made the free throw.

“He’s the one guy, when I think about the game, who sticks out in my mind,” San Diego Coach Hank Egan said of Butler, who had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 16 minutes. “He really made some plays with his talent and quickness.

“He’s also got a presence on the floor. He’s really an interesting player to watch, (though) it’s not a whole lot of fun when you’re on the other bench.

“But if I was a fan, I’d really enjoy watching him.”

If Egan were a fan, he probably wouldn’t have cared too much for a game in which UCLA shot 43.8%, only slightly improving its worst-in-the-Pacific 10 Conference shooting percentage from 41.7% to 42.4%. The Toreros made only 42.9%.

“We’ve been struggling and that shouldn’t happen with the talent we have,” said forward Trevor Wilson. He followed a strong game last week at Washington State (23 points and 16 rebounds) by scoring a season-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting and pulling down 12 rebounds.

The Bruins’ Gerald Madkins made four of seven shots, all from three-point range, and scoring a season-high 14 points.

Bringing down the Bruins’ shooting percentage were Don MacLean, who had 12 points and eight rebounds but made only five of 17 shots; and Martin, who had nine points and nine assists but made only four of 12.

“We missed some shots that I think, later in the year, we’re going to make,” Harrick said.

Center John Jerome, a transfer from Arizona State, scored 20 points to lead San Diego, which had four other players in double figures, including Cottrell, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds; and Gylan Dottin, a 6-foot-5 guard from Saddleback High in Santa Ana who had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Most of the highlights, however, were provided by Butler.

“He’s an electric player,” Harrick said of the 6-5 rookie from Oakwood School in North Hollywood.

Butler said he was simply trying to prove that he belongs.

“When you get in, you have limited time and you want to produce,” he said.

“You want to let the coach know that when you come in, there’s not going to be a huge slack-off.

“Basically, you just want to prove that you’re worthy.”

Butler left little doubt Saturday.

Bruin Notes

UCLA improved to 4-0 going into next Sunday’s game against Notre Dame (1-3) at South Bend, Ind. . . . San Diego, which has been a Division I team only since 1979 and had never before played a team ranked as high as the 13th-ranked Bruins, fell to 2-5 after its fourth straight loss. . . . After being rejected by network television, the UCLA-Notre Dame game, originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Sunday to accommodate Notre Dame, whose players will take final exams Saturday. It will be telecast locally on Prime Ticket.

San Diego lost to St. John’s, 74-59, last week in New York after trailing at halftime, 50-18, but Torero Coach Hank Egan said it would be difficult to compare the 15th-ranked Redmen to the Bruins because his players were so intimidated by the Big Apple. “We were slightly catatonic back there,” he said. “Here, we got beat. We didn’t come in and just cave in. We tried.”

Carlton Gray, a cornerback on the UCLA football team, probably won’t join the basketball team until after Jan. 1, Coach Jim Harrick said. . . . Among the spectators was former UCLA All-American Bill Walton, who is in town for the Grateful Dead’s three-night stand at the Forum. . . . Junior guard Kevin Williams, who started nine games last season and averaged more than 12 minutes, has yet to play this season. . . . After playing Notre Dame, UCLA will return to play American Dec. 19 at Pauley Pavilion.