COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Tigers Want to Forget It : They Take No Consolation in Missing by 4.8 Seconds

When Missouri looks back, the memories won’t be pleasant.

The Tigers said they don’t expect to have any fond recollections of their 75-74 loss to UCLA at the buzzer Sunday in the second round of the West Regional at the Boise State Pavilion. According to the Tigers, they have nothing to feel good about.

That they came within 4.8 seconds of defeating the top-seeded and top-ranked Bruins doesn’t mean much, they said. And they couldn’t care less about their clutch three-point shooting, which nearly broke UCLA.

“It was a good basketball game, but we don’t want to remember losses,” swingman Julian Winfield said. “It’s not something we’re going to feel good about for the next 30 years of our life. We come out here to win ballgames. That’s what matters.”

But Missouri was impressive, especially from three-point range.

The Tigers made 12 of 19 three-point attempts (63.2%), including seven of 11 (63.6%) in the first half as they took a 42-34 halftime lead.

Guard Paul O’Liney set the tone in the first half, making all four of his three-point shots. He made five of six in the game and had a team-high 23 points.

When UCLA figured out how to slow O’Liney, Derek Grimm’s three-point baskets kept the pressure on the Bruins. He made three of five and scored 13 points. Guard Jason Sutherland made four of eight and had 15 points.

Big deal, though, the Tigers said.

“We just executed our offense,” Grimm said. “Sure, we felt we could make those shots. We made them all year.”

Not quite. Missouri entered the game having connected on 37.8% of its three-point attempts. UCLA limited the Tigers to 47.5% shooting inside the arc, and Missouri’s long-range shooting impressed UCLA Coach Jim Harrick.

“They were cool and relaxed,” Harrick said. “They played a magnificent ballgame.”

The Bruin players felt the same.

“They had us on the ropes many times,” forward Ed O’Bannon said.

Said center George Zidek: “I thought they played an excellent game.”

Such observations, of course, are easiest after victory. But Harrick realizes how lucky the Bruins are.

“I thought (Missouri Coach) Norm Stewart did a great job preparing them to play,” Harrick said. “We did a better job against O’Liney in the second half, but Grimm steps up and Sutherland steps up.”

The kind words didn’t comfort the Tigers.

“In this tournament, a loss is a loss,” Winfield said. “You lose, you go home. It doesn’t matter if it is 20 points or a basket.”