Scrappiest Bruins Help Retire Ducks

On a night reserved for saluting UCLA’s high-pedigree, high-flying past and players, two current blue-collar Bruins stepped in and helped save a victory.

Bob Myers and Cameron Dollar combined to score only six points in UCLA’s 85-78 victory over Oregon on Thursday night before 12,073 at Pauley Pavilion. But in a scrappy, scuffling second half, their performances--along with Toby Bailey’s season-high 25 points--turned the tide.

“Sometimes we go a little flat, and we need to pick it up a little,” said Myers, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship last year. “If I can help do that, that’s fine.”

Myers, who saw the first significant action of his three-year career last Saturday against Louisville, came in for Charles O’Bannon with 10:42 left, and the score tied, 54-54.

A few minutes earlier, the 19th-ranked Bruins (14-5, 7-1 in the conference) trailed by four points.

On UCLA’s next possession, Myers cut to the hoop, where a triple-teamed J.R. Henderson found him for an easy layup. Five minutes, several hard screens and dives to the floor later, Myers came out, and UCLA was up, 67-61.

“I liked the play of Bob Myers today,” said Bruin Coach Jim Harrick, who has been looking for ways to increase his team strength. “I thought he gave us a lift, got us a little juiced, got us going.”

“Guys come in here with their reputations built up and want to be this or that, and you forget to just play basketball and have fun,” Dollar said. “Bob brings that element back. He just plays.”

At halftime, the numbers of four former Bruin players of the year--Ed O’Bannon, Marques Johnson, Sidney Wicks and Walt Hazzard--were retired in a ceremony officiated by Harrick.

Earlier, Hazzard, who was dismissed as UCLA coach eight seasons ago, said having his No. 42 retired was special because he chose to wear the number in honor of Jackie Robinson.

“I think this probably can serve to heal some wounds, because my last encounter in this building was not the greatest moment for me,” Hazzard said before the game.

Ed O’Bannon, who stepped into the locker room minutes before the game started for a quick pep talk, turned to Harrick during the ceremony with a smile, pointing to the current squad looking on.

“Coach Harrick, get on these guys,” he said, referring to the Bruins’ slim 39-38 lead, “we’ve got to win tonight.”

O’Bannon and Hazzard, known for his floor leadership and intense defensive attitude during UCLA’s first national title run in 1964, then saw Dollar turn up some intensity of his own.

Dollar, who started the season as the starting point guard, but went to a reserve role because of a pinky injury, started and played the entire second half after getting seven assists in the first half.

With Oregon point guard Kenya Wilkins slashing to the basket, and big men Kyle Milling and Rob Ramaker (19 points, eight rebounds) slicing in for offensive rebounds, UCLA could never pull away.

“Every time Oregon comes to town, they come with a workman attitude,” said Dollar, who finished with six points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

“They always play hard, and you’ve got to play hard to beat them. I like playing against them, because they never give up.”

UCLA tried to pull away twice--once with a 16-0 run in the first half, and again late in the second, when the Bruins went up, 63-56 with eight minutes left on Bailey’s fifth three-pointer of the night. But each time, the Ducks (9-10, 2-6) fought back.

Though the Bruins kept scoring layups, Oregon’s Jamal Lawrence (21 points on seven-for-12 three-point shooting) kept throwing in deeper and deeper three-pointers.

When Lawrence buried a 24-footer from right in front of the Duck bench, that pulled Oregon within five, 76-71, with 1:55 left to play.

Lawrence made another long one, but the Bruins held on.

After Arizona’s home loss to Washington on Thursday and California’s loss at Stanford Wednesday, UCLA leads the Huskies by one game in the Pacific 10 and the Wildcats and Bears by two.

“In the midseason, sometimes you can expect games like these,” Harrick said. “They probably played better than we did, but we just held on, and won.”

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TROJANS WIN

After two bad road losses, USC defeats Oregon State at a nearly empty Sports Arena. C6