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By Bill Plaschke

Dec. 9, 2001 12 AM PT

The most amazing statistic Saturday could be found at the end of the box score. For the first time this season, UCLA had fewer turnovers (9) than its opponent (17). The Bruins previous season low for turnovers was 15.

If you don’t count the turnovers committed by freshman, the Bruins had only five.

“The veterans are realizing that we have to show the kids the way,” senior Rico Hines said.

The other startling statistic involved three pointers. While Barnes was two for two from that distance, doubling his season total, Kapono made three of eight three-pointers and his shooting percentage from that distance dropped. Before the game, Kapono was shooting a team-leading 59% from three-point range. Only one other Bruin is shooting above 40%.

UCLA Sports

Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

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