Petruska Sparks UCLA in Second Half, 72-64

Richard Petruska had two points and one rebound after one half against Stanford on Thursday night in Maples Pavilion.

To say he was absent would be an understatement.

But the 6-foot-10 senior center re-emerged in the second half to lead the Bruins to a 72-64 Pacific 10 Conference victory over the Cardinal.

Petruska finished with 14 points, mostly when the Bruins made a big run early in the second half as UCLA won its third in a row.

UCLA (17-7, 7-5 in Pac-10) needed all the help it could get after a lethargic first half.

“All I wanted to do was make everything better,” Petruska said. “I got real emotional.”

Petruska’s inside play made it much better for the Bruins.

So did Stanford’s second-half collapse.

Stanford (6-17, 1-10) played a tight first half, but the Cardinal shot only 28.2% from the field during the second half.

“There were too many times when we wished that we could shoot the ball better,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said.

UCLA’s up-tempo play might have played a part. Coach Jim Harrick was pleased with how the team started after halftime.

“The first 11 minutes of the second half was reminiscent of how well we were playing early in the year,” Harrick said. “We executed well.”

Shon Tarver, who led the team in scoring against Oregon State and Oregon last week, was again the top scorer with 18 points, 14 in the second half. But many of Tarver’s points came once UCLA took command. Ed O’Bannon had 15 points and nine rebounds.

Stanford was led by Dion Cross and Brent Williams, who each scored 16.

The Bruins’ running game starting clicking as the Cardinal’s shooting turned miserable in the second half. UCLA, leading by 10, had a chance to break open the game with 11:34 left when O’Bannon saved a bad pass and found Tarver alone in the corner. But Tarver missed, Stanford got the ball, and Dion Cross was fouled by Tyus Edney.

Cross, a 6-2 freshman guard, made both free throws to close the gap to 51-43.

After that, Stanford had little to offer as Petruska and Tarver took turns helping UCLA build a 14-point lead with five minutes to play.

The Bruins stretched a 34-33 lead to 41-33 to open the second half as Petruska scored six consecutive points and Edney added a free throw.

Suddenly, Stanford was in trouble for the first time.

At the game’s start, the question--as usual--was how the Bruins would respond to one of the Pac-10’s weakest teams.

The answer came quickly. UCLA played raggedly and led by only one at halftime. If not for the play of O’Bannon, the Bruins might have been in trouble.

But O’Bannon was superb, scoring 11 points, many from the high post. O’Bannon was five for five from the field, but equally important was the forward’s dominating defense. He had two impressive blocks and five rebounds during the first half.

Before O’Bannon caught fire, Stanford gained a seven-point lead, 18-11, on Marcus Lollie’s three-pointer. The Cardinal led, 21-16, when UCLA scored six points in a row and regained the lead, 22-21, with 10:37 left in the half on O’Bannon’s 15-foot jumper.