Bruins Hibernate in 69-60 Victory

All those who hoped to leave early from Pauley Pavilion Saturday after watching 16th-ranked UCLA torch Santa Clara wound up staying a little later than they expected.

All but one starter was still on the floor for the Bruins at the end of a 69-60 victory in front of 5,667.

UCLA made only 40.4% of its shots while improving to 4-1 against a team that was picked by some preseason magazines to finish last in the West Coast Conference.

“Well, we won the game,” Coach Jim Harrick said sheepishly. “I thought we just played OK. We played pretty good for about nine minutes and I thought that was the difference in the game.

“We played pretty good from the four-minute mark at the end of the first half and five minutes into the second half. I thought we really got down and defended them and did everything we wanted to do.

“And then we (went) blank.”

UCLA outscored the Broncos, 13-4, at the end of the first half when Santa Clara went cold, missing four of its last five shots before halftime and making three turnovers to fall behind, 40-31.

UCLA increased its lead to 13 points in the second half before the Broncos rallied, closing to within 62-57 with 4:24 to play.

They got no closer, shooting only 29% in the second half.

“I think the pressure of Pauley does that to you sometimes,” said Santa Clara’s first-year coach, Dick Davey.

Santa Clara opened its season Tuesday night with a 71-56 victory over San Jose State, and the Broncos came in confident.

“I was obviously discouraged,” Davey said of the result. “We didn’t come down here with the idea that we were going to lose the ballgame. Obviously, I know all of you (reporters) thought we would, but we have some kids with pride and character and we thought we had a chance if we did things right.”

The Broncos, despite 20 offensive rebounds, couldn’t overcome 33.8% shooting. They were abysmal from long range, making two of 20 three-point attempts.

Forward DeWayne Lewis, a 6-foot-5 junior from Hamilton High, led Santa Clara with career highs of 25 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, making eight of 15 shots and nine of 10 free throws.

Against San Jose State, he had five points and two rebounds.

What was the difference?

“The other night, I didn’t really look at the basket,” Lewis said. “Tonight, I looked at the basket a little more.”

UCLA got a career-high 20 points and a season-high 10 rebounds from sophomore forward Ed O’Bannon, who made seven of 10 shots and also had four steals, two assists and a blocked shot in 35 minutes.

“He was clearly the best player we had tonight,” Harrick said. “I don’t think it was even close.”

Shon Tarver added a season-high 19 points, six rebounds and three steals. Tyus Edney had 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.

“We played probably just well enough to win,” Harrick said.

But it wasn’t pretty.

“Once we start getting a lead, we seem to relax and slack off a little bit,” O’Bannon said. “It’s not good because the great teams will come back and they’ll kill us, without a doubt.”

But teams such as Santa Clara will only keep the game close.

Bruin Notes

Mitchell Butler, his sprained left wrist heavily taped, made two of nine shots, scoring four points in 25 minutes. “He was OK to play, but he couldn’t catch the ball,” Coach Jim Harrick said. “I didn’t have to use him, but we’ve got all next week for him to get well.” . . . A plan to add about 1,400 club seats to Pauley Pavilion has been delayed while the builder attempts to find the necessary financing, UCLA athletic business manager Steve Salm said. UCLA hoped to have the project approved by the UC Board of Regents next month but will wait at least until March to present its proposal. . . . Jonathan West, a UCLA freshman from Agoura Hills, came out of the stands to make all four of his shots during a halftime shooting contest, winning complimentary tuition and books for a year. “I’ve always wanted to play basketball at UCLA and I guess this is the closest I’ll get,” said West, whose other prizes included a stereo system and whose grand prize is worth about $3,800.