It’s Showtime for Green, but Bruins Beat Georgia

UCLA could afford lapses in concentration last month against a schedule of less-than-imposing opponents that, with the exception of Cal State Fullerton, hardly challenged.

But Saturday night, before 12,618 at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA had to keep Georgia on its mind.

Led by senior guard Litterial Green, who scored 32 of his 38 points and made seven of his nine three-point shots during the second half, Georgia kept the heat on the second-ranked Bruins before falling, 87-80.

Improving to 8-0 as they prepare to open Pacific 10 Conference play Thursday night against Arizona State at Tempe, the Bruins overcame their own 43.9% shooting and Georgia’s 62.5% shooting after halftime, never relinquishing the lead despite Green’s brilliant performance.

Green’s seven three-point field goals set Georgia and Pauley Pavilion records, and his 32 points during the second half equaled a record established by UCLA’s Lew Alcindor on Dec. 3, 1966.

Playing in front of his idol, Magic Johnson, and Laker General Manager Jerry West, Green put on a show.

“It was great,” Green said. “In the second half when I was really feeling it, I’d come down the floor and (Johnson) would wink at me and tell me to keep taking them. It was basically a dream come true.”

For UCLA Coach Jim Harrick, so was a tough game.

“We needed to be pushed like that,” Harrick said. “That’s a very, very athletic team. They probably defend you as well as we’ll be defended all year long, except maybe by Duke. They’re very physical.

“We just didn’t execute our offense like you’d want to, but we haven’t faced that kind of defense. You need to play a game like that to get better. They deny everything. . . . They don’t let you score from the field.”

UCLA got 24 points each from forwards Don MacLean and Tracy Murray, but freshman guard Tyus Edney, who equaled his week-old season high by scoring 10 points, was the only other Bruin to score in double figures.

MacLean also had 12 rebounds.

Georgia is rebuilding after losing four starters from last season, when it was 17-13, finished fifth in the Southeastern Conference and lost in overtime to Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“We’re a new team,” Coach Hugh Durham said before the game. “I say new, rather than young, because when you look at our starting lineup, you see that we have three juniors (and) a senior. You’d see that and say, ‘These guys aren’t young,’ but we’ve got people starting who had never started before, and our backups (include) a junior college transfer and two freshmen.”

He said that UCLA’s explosiveness concerned him.

“You can be cruising along, thinking you’re playing pretty good, and all of a sudden, you’re down 15,” Durham said. “If you reflect back to when coach (John) Wooden was here, a lot of people played UCLA close for maybe 30 minutes out of 40, but in that one 10-minute stretch, or maybe two five-minute stretches, you’d get beat (by) 25.

“That’s one of the things this team (can do).”

And did to Georgia.

A 9-0 run helped the Bruins open a 12-4 lead.

Later in the first half, a no-look pass in the lane by Murray set up 7-foot-6 reserve Mike Lanier for a layup, sparking a 12-0 run by the Bruins that included old-fashioned three-point plays by Murray and Shon Tarver--a basket and a free throw--and increased UCLA’s lead to 30-15.

Despite 43.3% shooting, the Bruins led at halftime, 38-26.

Georgia made only 32.1% of its shots during the first half.

It proved too much to overcome, despite Green’s efforts.

Bruin Notes

UCLA’s Gerald Madkins, still wearing a hard cast on his broken left hand, is doubtful for next weekend’s games at Arizona State and Arizona. He will be fitted with a soft cast Wednesday and will make the trip. . . . UCLA, now into the heart of its schedule, will play the first of its 18 Pacific 10 games Thursday night at Arizona State. Also remaining are nonconference games against Louisville, Notre Dame and Duke, the first two on the road. . . . UCLA will play Georgia again next Dec. 19 as part of a doubleheader at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Georgia Tech will play Louisville in the other game.

Ed O’Bannon, still recuperating from his third knee operation in little more than a year, participated in pregame warm-ups for the first time since he enrolled at UCLA, but he has not yet been cleared to practice. . . . Don MacLean needs 13 points to move past Reggie Miller into second place on UCLA’s all-time scoring list behind Lew Alcindor. . . . Going into Saturday night’s game against Coastal Carolina, former UCLA center Rodney Odom was averaging 13.4 points and 8.9 rebounds for North Carolina Charlotte, which was 7-1 and ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll, its highest ranking since 1977.