Bruins, Off to 5-0 Start, Win Easily

Ranked among the top 10 in the Associated Press poll this week for the first time in almost seven years, UCLA celebrated by blasting St. Mary’s, 123-93, Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

As it used to nightly in Westwood, garbage time came early.

“We’re playing well,” UCLA forward Don MacLean said. “I think we’re deserving of a top 10 ranking.”

The Bruins improved to 5-0, their best start in eight years.

And, for the third time, they scored more than 120 points. They are averaging 115 points a game after scoring more than 100 only three times in their first two seasons under Coach Jim Harrick.

“We’ve got a lot of firepower coming off the bench, whereas in the past (two seasons), when all the starters went out, we didn’t score as much,” MacLean said. “Our bench is scoring as many points as our starters.”

How well is UCLA playing?

Tracy Murray is shooting 50% and is tied for worst among the Bruins, who have made 58.3% of their shots.

They made 56.9% against the Gaels. Six players scored in double figures, led by Murray, who made eight of 14 shots, including three of five three-point attempts, and equaled his season high with 24 points.

MacLean scored 20 points, Gerald Madkins scored 16 and point guard Darrick Martin, seemingly playing with more confidence each game, had 14 points and 10 assists, giving him 20 assists in UCLA’s last two games.

Among the reserves, freshman guard Shon Tarver had 15 points and five assists in 18 minutes, making five of seven shots, and senior forward Keith Owens had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes.

Center Eric Bamberger had 23 points and seven rebounds, reserve guard John Levitt scored 19 points in 23 minutes (on six-of-eight shooting) and point guard Allen Caveness had 12 points and 13 assists for the Gaels, whose 49.3% shooting was easily the best by a UCLA opponent this season.

“We weren’t quite as intense and as inspired as we have been, but we were effective overall,” Harrick said of the Bruins, who outrebounded St. Mary’s, 49-31. “I didn’t like our intensity defensively.”

It was more than enough, though, to hold off St. Mary’s.

“We just didn’t have the strength, nor the size, nor the talent to stay with the Bruins,” St. Mary’s Coach Paul Landreaux said.

The season promises to be a struggle for the Gaels, who are 1-4 as they head east for a tournament this weekend at New Rochelle, N.Y., and are playing under a lame-duck coach.

A former UCLA assistant who spent 10 previous seasons at El Camino College, winning 275 games and three state junior college championships, Landreaux announced his resignation last Friday, effective at the end of the season.

The Gaels were 7-20 last season, their first under Landreaux, and four players left the program last spring, citing dissatisfaction with the coach. Bamberger, one of the four, eventually returned, but Landreaux said that school officials lost faith in him after the defections.

He never felt secure enough to move his family from Gardena.

“I took the UCLA job (2 1/2 years ago) primarily to help me get an opportunity at this level to be a head coach,” Landreaux, 47, said. “This was the first opportunity that came up and at this stage in my life and my career, I thought, ‘(Shoot), I’d better take this one.’

“To be honest, it was probably the worst decision I’ve made.”

St. Mary’s has only three players back from last season.

The Gaels, with seven junior college transfers among their 13 players, were overmatched against UCLA, which made 58.8% of its shots in opening a 63-48 halftime lead, then pulled away in the second half, surpassing the 100-point mark with more than eight minutes left.

“They’re not a horrible team,” Harrick said of the Gaels. “They’re not a great team, but they’re a good team.”

But not as good as the Bruins.

Not even close.

Bruin Notes

He will not play this season, but 7-foot-6 transfer Mike Lanier has already paid dividends for UCLA, Coach Jim Harrick said. In practice, “If you’re going to shoot against Lanier, you’d better know he’s there,” Harrick said. “He may not block it yet, but he’s like a telephone pole; you’d better go over him. He has really helped (Don) MacLean and (Keith) Owens. They really have to concentrate a lot harder on their shots.” Lanier transferred from Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Tex. He’s red-shirting even though he’s eligible since Hardin-Simmons dropped from Division I to Division III.

The date of UCLA’s opener against Indiana next season has been set. The teams will meet Friday night, Nov. 15, at Springfield, Mass., in a game that will commemorate the start of college basketball’s 100th season. It will be nationally televised by ESPN. . . . For the record: UCLA forward Zan Mason scored a career-high 14 points Sunday night against Loyola Marymount and equaled a career high by taking eight rebounds.

Harrick said that Allen Caveness of St. Mary’s was “as good a lead guard as we’ve played all year. He consistently got into the paint on us and dished off.” Caveness is a transfer from El Camino College and Pomona High School. . . . UCLA scored more than 120 points in a game only 10 times before this season. The last time the Bruins scored more than 120 points three times in a season was in the 1969-70 season, when they did it four times. . . . The Bruins had only four blocked shots against St. Mary’s but have 45 blocked shot in five games. Last season they 95 in 33 games.