FIRST HALF IN REVIEW

It’s a good thing J.R. Henderson showed up in Atlanta, because few other Bruins did during a very sloppy first half. UCLA fell behind by as many as 10 points midway through the half, but Henderson strapped the Bruins on his back and scored 10 of his team’s 17 points down the stretch to get the Bruins back in the game. Henderson was seven for 12 from the floor in the first half, while the rest of the team shot six for 18. However, as tentative as UCLA looked in the beginning of the period, Miami’s aggressive play gave way to some sloppiness of its own. The Hurricanes had 14 turnovers and shot only 33%. And while UCLA’s Toby Bailey didn’t shoot well, his all-around play with six rebounds and four assists helped the Bruins take a three-point lead, before Miami’s Johnny Hemsley made a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie it.

* UCLA’S LEADING SCORERS: Henderson 15, Bailey 6, Baron Davis 6.

* UCLA’S LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bailey 6, Henderson 4.

* OTHER STUFF: Kris Johnson, who had averaged 23 points in the last seven games, didn’t score his first point until there was only 1:38 left in the half. . . . UCLA continued to rely heavily on its starters as the Bruin bench was outscored, 10-0. . . . The Bruins were outrebounded by the Hurricanes 27-19. . . . Bailey and Davis had seven of the team’s nine turnovers.

* MIAMI’S LEADING SCORERS: Mario Bland 10, Kevin Norris 8, Hemsley 6.

* MIAMI’S LEADING REBOUNDERS: Hemsley 9, Bland 6.

* OTHER STUFF: Miami’s all-Big East forward Tim James had a quiet half, scoring only four points and grabbing four rebounds. . . . Though the Hurricanes are a poor three-point-shooting team, Norris made two of four from long distance. . . . The Hurricane starting guards were 0 for 10 from the floor.

UCLA: 32

MIAMI: 32

SECOND HALF IN REVIEW

UCLA Coach Steve Lavin said at halftime that the Bruins “needed to stay patient” and that they did. UCLA came out calm and cool and outscored Miami, 17-7, to take a 10-point lead with 10:18 left in the game. Davis and Bailey picked up some of the scoring slack, scoring 13 of the 17, but suddenly, patience turned to laxness. UCLA seemed to try to play it safe rather than stay aggressive, letting Miami back into the game. The Hurricanes put together a run of their own, outscoring the Bruins, 12-3, during a span of 3:21 to regain the lead, 60-58, with three minutes to play. Poor free-throw shooting hurt the Bruins, who finished 13 of 25 from the line. But when they needed it most, Henderson and Bailey came through. Henderson, who had made only two of seven in the game until being fouled by Bland, made both free throws with 41 seconds left to give the Bruins a 63-62 lead. Bailey made two more with seven seconds left to give UCLA its margin of victory.

* UCLA’S LEADING SCORERS: Bailey 15, Henderson 11, Davis 7.

* UCLA’S LEADING REBOUNDER: Bailey 5.

* OTHER STUFF: Bailey, who struggled some in the first half, finished strong with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. . . . Johnson, however, continued his off night, finishing with only three points (on one-of-five shooting) and three rebounds before fouling out with 2:35 to play. . . . UCLA has been to NCAA tournament every year in the 1990s and is now 6-3 in first round games.

* MIAMI’S LEADING SCORERS: James 8, Bland 8, Hemsley 7.

* MIAMI’S LEADING REBOUNDER: Norris 3.

* OTHER STUFF: Miami outrebounded UCLA, 44-32, for the game. . . . The Hurricanes committed 10 more turnovers in the second half and finished with 24 for the game. . . . It was Miami’s first tournament appearance in 38 years. Its tournament record is 0-2

UCLA: 65

MIAMI: 62

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE BOX SCORE

UCLA 65, Miami 62

MIAMI (62)

*--*

Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T James 23 6-9 0-1 3-6 0 5 12 Bland 36 6-8 6-10 6-8 0 5 18 Norris 37 4-8 2-2 1-6 3 3 14 Frazier 16 0-3 0-0 1-2 0 1 0 Jennings 30 0-8 1-2 2-3 7 3 1 Hemsley 31 5-17 1-3 4-11 2 4 13 Tyler 16 2-4 0-0 1-3 1 2 4 Wimbley 5 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 Byrs-Dwsn 4 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 Schlie 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Wiseman 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tot. 200 23-61 10-19 20-42 13 24 62

*--*

Shooting: Field goals, 37.7%; free throws, 52.6%

Three-point goals: 6-17 (Norris 4-7, Hemsley 2-7, Wiseman 0-1, Frazier 0-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2 (James, Tyler). Turnovers: 24 (Norris 7, James 5, Jennings 4, Frazier 3, Hemsley 3, Bland, Wimbley). Steals: 12 (Norris 4, Hemsley 3, Jennings 2, James, Bland, Frazier).

UCLA (65)

*--*

Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Hendersn 37 11-17 4-9 2-6 0 2 26 Johnson 24 1-6 0-0 1-3 1 5 3 Davis 35 6-11 0-0 1-3 2 4 13 Bailey 39 6-13 7-9 3-11 7 3 21 Watson 35 0-3 2-5 0-2 2 1 2 Reed 6 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 Hines 20 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 2 0 Lloyd 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 Totals 200 24-52 13-25 7-28 14 18 65

*--*

Shooting: Field goals, 46.2%; free throws, 52.0%

Three-point goals: 4-16 (Bailey 2-4, Johnson 1-3, Davis 1-5, Henderson 0-1, Hines 0-1, Watson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 4 (Henderson, Bailey, Watson, Reed). Turnovers: 15 (Davis 5, Bailey 4, Henderson 3, Watson 3). Steals: 13 (Bailey 4, Henderson 3, Davis 3, Johnson 2, Watson).

*

Miami 32 30--62

UCLA 32 33--65

A--18,717. O--Tom Rucker, Tony Greene, Ronald Zetcher.