Message Is Sent, Bruins Receive

Three UCLA mainstays hit the bench Tuesday night, as interim Coach Steve Lavin sprinkled a dose of discipline on a team that never ceases to make news.

As punishment for what was termed a “miscommunication”--apparently a missed Monday meeting--starters J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy and usual first substitute Kris Johnson were kept out of the first eight minutes of UCLA’s 95-73 victory over Cal State Northridge before 7,427 at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruin performance was far from beautiful (21 turnovers), but it was Lavin’s first victory. And, after a 13-day span without a game, it came with a message.

“It definitely was a statement,” said McCoy, who scored 18 points on nine-of-10 shooting and blocked five shots. “Coach Lavin is letting us know we have to communicate.”

Said Lavin: “For me, it was kind of a natural, gut-level, it was an instinctual decision. It’s very important that you’re very clear where you stand on issues like this. If you don’t deal with something that may be a little brush fire right now, it might be a four-alarm fire down the road.”

Though the players involved said they were surprised by the harshness of the penalty, anybody waiting for the Bruin meltdown was disappointed Tuesday. Lavin said he was impressed with the way the three handled the temporary benching--all three reported into the game with UCLA ahead, 17-12, 8:01 into the first half.

“If he didn’t do it,” Johnson said, “I don’t think he’d be doing his job with us.”

Said Henderson, who added that he thought he might have to do extra running for the mishap, not sit: “We could’ve sulked on the bench, pouted and cried about it, but that wasn’t going to do anything but hurt the team.”

Earlier in the day, Lavin met with his three seniors, Charles O’Bannon, Cameron Dollar and Bob Myers. It was a regular meeting, Dollar said, to keep the seniors involved.

Last season, O’Bannon was benched by Coach Jim Harrick for the first 24 minutes of a loss to Duke for missing a morning shoot-around.

O’Bannon, who led all scorers with 23 points and also had six assists, said Lavin was making a clear point to his team.

“This is his team, this is his system and it’s very important for him to establish what he wants to establish with us,” O’Bannon said. “He’s the head man.”

For a coach still only weeks into his career, the players took notice.

“I don’t think Harrick would’ve done this,” said Henderson, who finished with 16 points, “but they’re two different coaches with two different ways of wanting things done.”

Lavin wasn’t really risking much by benching the three against the overmatched Matadors (1-3), but the Bruins did struggle early with a starting lineup that included Brandon Loyd and Myers.

The makeshift Bruins turned the ball over three times in the first few minutes and trailed Northridge, 10-5, with 16:28 left in the half. Then the UCLA defense stiffened, allowing the Matadors only two baskets in the next six minutes.

Northridge got back to within 22-20, but, with McCoy dominating on the defensive side and the Bruin dunk opportunities piling up, UCLA outscored Northridge, 25-14, to close the foul-plagued half with a 13-point lead.

UCLA blew past Northridge in the second half and made 31 of its 49 shots, mostly on easy lay-ins and hard dunks. Northridge, which was led by Gerald Rhoden’s 15 points, shot only 35.3%.

Toby Bailey led UCLA with 10 assists, but had five turnovers.

Afterward, as the Bruins looked toward Saturday’s matchup with No. 1 Kansas at Pauley, Lavin said he was disappointed with their overall defense, which allowed many second shots.

“It wasn’t real pretty,” Lavin said. “But it definitely feels nice to eliminate the left-hand column goose egg.”