Fan’s Best Shots on Target

The most accurate Bruin shooter at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday never set foot in the game. He doesn’t even play for the basketball team.

Michael Welch, a UCLA junior and avid basketball fan, used his halftime sharpshooting to win free tuition and books for the 2001-02 academic year. He was chosen from the crowd of 6,892 and made a layup, a free throw (on three tries), a three-pointer and a halfcourt shot in the required 30 seconds to claim the prize.

“I joined a gym in the summer and my friend and I would stay there until three in the morning taking those [halfcourt] shots,” said Welch, 19, a computer science major from Simi Valley. “I used to shoot those underhanded, but I didn’t want to look like a complete idiot out here, so I just treated it like a normal shot.”

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* Thursday vs. USC, 7:30 p.m., Pauley Pavilion, Fox Sports Net--UCLA leads the series, 116-93. The schools split last season, both winning at home.