Victory Is a Rush for Young Bruins

JaRon Rush rejoined the UCLA basketball team on Monday night, got a team-high 19 points along with eight rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench, then got welcome-back hugs from all his teammates in the locker room afterward.

But the real story was the comeback of all the Bruins.

After almost suffering a major letdown after a victory over Arizona on Saturday, No. 7 UCLA earned an 88-85 overtime victory over Arizona State before 8,828 at Pauley Pavilion and high praise from Coach Steve Lavin.

“What I told them was that they were the proudest I’ve been in a team in at least the three years I’ve been the head coach,” said Lavin after the Bruins’ eighth victory in a row. “For a young team to find ways to scratch and claw and fight. . . .”

That the Bruins were in such a position to begin with is hardly worthy of compliments.

But they ultimately got the win.

“After beating a team like Arizona, you’re always going to come out lackadaisical,” said Ryan Bailey, who scored five of his 11 points in overtime. “But we’re a young team. We showed that we’ve come a long way. We really hung together.

“We didn’t come out as hard as we did against Arizona. But then we knew it was a gut check. We had to step it up.”

In overtime for the first time this season, the Bruins (10-2 overall, 2-0 in Pacific 10 Conference) never trailed, but were tied several times.

The last was at 85-85 with 1:08 remaining.

From there, Jerome Moiso made one free throw with 1:07 left and Earl Watson sliced down the lane and scored with 19 seconds to go, putting UCLA ahead 88-85.

A 22-footer for the tie by Arizona State’s Bobby Lazor bounced off the rim at the buzzer, dropping the Sun Devils to 8-6 and 0-2 despite a 22-point, 12-rebound effort from Mike Batiste.

The night started with the Bruins making a move back to normalcy.

Moiso and Dan Gadzuric, benched Saturday against Arizona in what Moiso called a message about not working hard enough, were back in the starting lineup.

And Rush was back in uniform.

When he checked in with the game a little more than seven minutes old, greeted by a warm welcome from the home crowd, it marked the first appearance for Rush since Dec. 23. After that, he went home to Kansas City, Mo., for Christmas, only to stay there.

Rush missed two practices and a game, sending word back to teammates and the UCLA staff that he would be returning, only to delay.

He was homesick, but also AWOL, so Lavin, although understanding of the common emotion that affects many freshmen, suspended him for the Arizona game. Rush watched from the bench in street clothes.

When the final step in the return to good graces came Monday, Rush did not waste the chance to seize the moment.

His first shot, 22 seconds after entering, was a three-point attempt from the left side that swished.

“I was really nervous,” Rush said. “I didn’t know how the crowd would react to me coming back but they gave me a good ovation. That got me hyped.”

It was a welcome sight for the Bruins not only because it enabled Rush to immediately get back in the flow, but because they needed it as a team.

Two nights after the great start propelled them to an 82-75 victory over then-No. 6 ranked Arizona, the Bruins were struggling early.

Arizona State never trailed by more than two points in the opening half and led by as many as five.

By intermission, even with the UCLA boost of Rush having made four of five shots along with getting three rebounds and a steal in just 12 minutes, the Sun Devils still held a 35-34 lead.

The Sun Devils were playing early as if they had something to prove--which maybe they did.

In the previous game, they blew an 18-point first-half lead to USC at the Sports Arena and were outscored, 43-32, after the break in a 72-70 loss.

That was the end of a six-game winning streak for Arizona State, its longest since 1994-95.