Bruins Barely Escape Again

UCLA point guard Earl Watson isn’t choosy, not these days. In light of the Bruins’ sluggish start, he will take any kind of victory, pretty or otherwise.

Saturday, he got the latter.

The Bruins, a team desperately in search of a knockout punch, got all they could handle from UC Irvine before pulling away in the final minute for a 65-60 victory.

But a win is a win, and Watson has learned to appreciate that this season. To prove his point, he even flirted with blasphemy.

“Look at our cross-town rivals,” he said. “We hate to compare ourselves to USC, but they’re a legitimate No. 12 team in the country [actually No. 13] and they aren’t blowing teams out. Nobody’s making a fuss about that.”

People would have made quite a fuss had the Bruins lost to Irvine, even though the Anteaters (4-2) knocked off California and are the only Southern California team other than USC with more than one victory against UCLA. The Bruins lead the series 3-2.

There was a lot of breath-holding going on in the Pauley Pavilion crowd of 6,974, especially when UCLA’s second-half lead dwindled from 11 points to one.

UCLA went without a basket on 13 consecutive possessions, from 12 minutes to 2:30 remaining, before getting hot when it counted most. The Bruins scored on six of their last seven possessions.

“This was a positive step for our team,” said Coach Steve Lavin, whose necktie seemed to tighten with each fruitless possession. “We didn’t shoot the ball well offensively, but we found a way to grind out a win.”

The Bruins, who shot a chilly 35.1% (20 of 57), probably won’t survive next Saturday when they host North Carolina if their shooting stays in the frozen section.

They also might want to reconsider scheduling nonconference games against the Big West. Both UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara gave them a scare. And who joins the Big West next season? Cal State Northridge, a school UCLA fans would happily forget.

“We have a quality team in our conference,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said. “I feel like our team can play with a lot of teams in the country.”

Junior forward Matt Barnes played a big role in the victory. With 47 seconds to play and UCLA clinging to a 59-58 lead, Barnes made a short jump hook along the baseline to create a bit of breathing room.

He also made three of four free throws in the final 18 seconds, finishing with a season-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Jason Kapono led the Bruins with 19 points, most of which came on short jumpers and second chances. He kept his streak alive of 21 consecutive games with a three-pointer--but barely. He was one for seven from behind the arc.

“On a night where none of our shots were falling,” Lavin said, “we found a way to win.”

That was in serious doubt in the first half. The Bruins, who spent all week practicing at 5:30 a.m., looked drowsy. They made fewer than a third of their shots, committed 11 turnovers and fell behind, 34-30.

Lavin said his players were being too timid on offense and too generous.

“We did an admirable job of passing the ball,” Lavin said. “But we almost forgot to look at the basket.”

That wasn’t a problem in the first five minutes of the second half, when the Bruins wiped out Irvine’s halftime lead with a 17-2 run. Helping spark that was center Dan Gadzuric, who opened the second half with a resounding dunk after sitting out all but three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

After that, things really started to flow for UCLA. Kapono made a couple of shots, Gadzuric added a 12-foot jumper and a baby hook, and Watson fed Ray Young for an alley-oop layup.

But the Bruins eventually cooled. And the Anteaters battled back behind the play of 7-foot freshman Adam Parada, who came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points--10 of which came in the second half.

Parada had a chance to give Irvine a lead with about a minute to play, but he missed a 10-footer in the lane.

Irvine forward Ben Jones, who came into the game leading his team in scoring at 14.4 points, had 10 points on four-of-11 shooting.

“When we play lower-level schools, we’re under a little more pressure,” Young said. “People think we’re supposed to win, and we’re supposed to win by 30.”

On this night, a five-point victory felt just fine.