Bruin Senior Trio Keep Pride Alive

The Bruin bounce-back game started with a startle.

Was that really the normally sedate J.R. Henderson at midcourt, leaping up and down, yelling, bumping and giggling with the rest of his teammates in the most emotional pregame huddle of the season?

“It took a while,” Henderson said, after UCLA’s 84-75 victory over Oregon State before 10,400 at Gill Coliseum on Saturday, “but they finally got me hyped too.”

In a proud performance that punctuated the consistent success of the three centerpiece UCLA seniors, the Bruins used the pent-up emotion of Thursday’s dispiriting loss to Oregon to overcome some imprecise moments and salvage an Oregon split.

Sixth-ranked UCLA got into deep foul trouble, lost Baron Davis for several minutes because of a banged-up toe, got hit for 34 points by Beaver gunner Corey Benjamin, made only 34.4% of its shots in the first half . . . and, like so many haphazard moments since the 1994-95 season, pulled it out.

That means in their entire three-plus years, Henderson, Toby Bailey and Kris Johnson--who all scored 20 or more Saturday--still never have lost successive games in Pacific 10 Conference play.

The three are 55-10 in the league in their careers.

“We’d like to leave a legacy here at UCLA,” said Bailey, who led the Bruins with 21 points. “People can say that our class never lost two straight Pac-10 games. That’s more important to me than any individual statistic.”

Said Johnson, who, like Henderson, had 20 points: “We just rely on our pride as basketball players. It’s, ‘Do not let them sweep us.’ It was bad enough we lost to Oregon.”

So, exactly a month before NCAA tournament selection day, the Bruins (18-4, 8-3) find themselves basically out of the league title race but sensing that the ingredients are still there for a strong run into the tournament.

“I think there’s always time to improve--we can improve in one day or one game,” Henderson said. “I mean, a month is a very long time to get things polished.

Coach Steve Lavin, in an animated postgame interview session, said he recognizes there are steps the team still hasn’t taken.

“Obviously, the deficiencies are still there, from A to Z,” Lavin said. “I wish I could tell you with a crystal ball when the target date is and if we were going to be a great team. But I don’t think any coach in America has a crystal ball to look into and give you the exact time. . . .

“Sometimes, it must seem like a mystery, a Bermuda Triangle to you. But it’s pretty basic. All we want to do is get better, every game, every practice.”

Against the ninth-place Beavers--who have only one player (Benjamin) with a dangerous offensive game--UCLA played efficiently enough to carry the day.

The Bruins did it in the second half with Davis sitting out the first five minutes after aggravating an injury to his left big toe. He came back in at the 15-minute mark, when the Beavers (12-11, 2-9) were making their strongest run.

“I stepped on something and I felt a crunch,” Davis said. “And it hurt. My toe crunched. I guess I’ve just got to play through.”

Oregon State, despite game-long horrible free-throw shooting (18 for 40) reduced the UCLA lead to 59-48 with 14:08 left, then down to a 10-point deficit several minutes later.

Benjamin, who had serious foul trouble of his own, made 11 of his 17 shots in 31 minutes.

But, beating Oregon State’s press easily, Henderson and Johnson provided the cushion the rest of the way.

The Bruins had no such trouble at the free-throw line, making 28 of their 38 attempts, including a surprising six-for-eight by Jelani McCoy, who had made only 50% of his tries before Saturday.

“The whole idea was to get back to having fun in this game,” said Johnson, who was particularly bothered by UCLA’s fourth loss in five seasons at Oregon.

“I think for the first time in my career I felt a little pressure when we were getting ready for Oregon. I don’t know. I guess it was the whole Oregon thing, we’ve lost there. . . . We all played a little uptight.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t do that tonight.”