Bruins Clog Titan Traffic, Then Fill Diamond Lane : College basketball: Ed O’Bannon fills role of defensive stopper as UCLA pulls away from Cal State Fullerton, 99-65.

A second-half burst of UCLA defense transformed a struggle into a strangle Saturday night.

Leading Cal State Fullerton by only six at halftime, second-ranked UCLA tipped passes, jumped into passing lanes, bumped bodies and generally obliterated the Titan offense in the second half on its way to a 99-65 victory before 7,243 at Pauley Pavilion.

After the surge was over, the Bruins had racked up 19 steals--a team record--and held the Titans to 25% shooting in the second half.

“They definitely turned up the heat, and we kind of wilted under their defensive pressure,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said. “They’re awfully big, awfully strong, awfully talented, and that certainly showed up in the second half.”

After a sedate first half, UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said he challenged his team to come up with the same kind of effort that lifted it over Kentucky last Saturday.

“He just told us to dig deep, stop sleeping, pick up the defense and everything will come,” guard Tyus Edney said.

Said Harrick: “At halftime, I asked them, ‘Which team do you want to be, the one that played Kentucky or the one that played the first half out there?’ ”

He got a quick answer, filled with Bruins plucking errant Titan passes and UCLA streaks to the hoop.

The Bruins (3-0) outscored the Titans, 16-7, to start the second half, including a stretch during which their defense caused Fullerton (1-3) to turn the ball over six times in 11 trips down the floor.

A 22-4 blitz in the middle of the second half put the game away, climaxed by the last of Charles O’Bannon’s dunks.

The first half, though, had none of that intensity.

In the first 20 minutes, Fullerton center Winston Peterson created UCLA headaches by beating the Bruins down the floor for several layups and by driving past Bruin center George Zidek in the halfcourt offense.

But Harrick switched 6-foot-8 forward Ed O’Bannon, not usually known for dominating defensive play, to the 6-6 Peterson, and suddenly the Titans went cold.

“Basically, Coach wanted me to guard Peterson and pick up the team’s intensity on the defensive end,” O’Bannon said. “I just tried to stay in front of him, deny him the ball as much as I could.”

With the easy passing lane to Peterson closed, the other Bruin defenders throttled the rest of the Fullerton offense, causing 26 total turnovers--15 in the second half.

Though Peterson finished with a game-high 26 points, he had only nine in the second half and Fullerton did not score baskets on consecutive possessions in the second half until there were less than five minutes remaining.

O’Bannon, for one, reveled in his new role as UCLA’s defensive stopper.

“It’s a nice change for me,” O’Bannon said. “In the first half, my shot wasn’t falling, so I blanked it out, came out in the second concentrating on rebounding and defense.

“And we’ve said it all year, when you play good defense, the offense follows.”

O’Bannon, who had only six points on three-for-nine shooting in the first half, made four of six in the second and made both of his second-half three-point attempts. He finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and one steal.

Charles O’Bannon and Edney led the Bruins with four steals each, and UCLA got three apiece from Toby Bailey, Cameron Dollar and J.R. Henderson.

According to the UCLA sports information department, the previous team record for steals had been 17, set in the Great Alaska Shootout four years ago against UC Irvine.

“We pretty much fell apart in the second half,” Hawking said, “shot selection, defense. . . . They’re obviously an outstanding team.”

And off the turnovers, UCLA flew.

Charles O’Bannon, who fouled out of the Kentucky game early, led UCLA with 23 points, which tied a career high, and four dramatic dunks, which probably did not.

“That’s exactly why I play basketball,” Charles O’Bannon said. “You get one early in the game, and you get the feeling it’s going to be a great night.”

Said Edney: “You can see it in his body motion, like he’s getting ready for it. I just watch.”

Charles O’Bannon made 10 of his 15 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Said his older brother, Ed: “His athletic ability is second to none, I think. For him to get those dunks, especially at the times he got them, they were very crucial. We needed someone to get us into it emotionally.”

* More on UCLA Basketball: If you follow UCLA basketball and want to catch all the Times’ features, game stories and notes on the Bruins, sign on to the new TimesLink on-line service.