Bruins Again Press the Issue

Point guard Earl Watson doesn’t need to look at the opposition to figure out if UCLA’s press is working. He just listens for that sweet sound.

“You can hear players breathing hard, huffing and puffing,” Watson said. “And we still feel like we can go an extra 40 minutes. Once you hear that, it just takes your confidence to another level because you know they’re tired. That’s why most of their passes are straight out of bounds. People aren’t able to think while they’re tired.”

If that’s the case, chalk up Villanova’s 26 turnovers Saturday to a nasty case of brain freeze. Because it was UCLA’s suffocating press that paved the path to a fifth consecutive victory, a 93-65 stomping of the Wildcats before a crowd of 9,798 at Pauley Pavilion.

Faceless for so long, these Bruins (9-4) have finally located an identity--they like to press. It isn’t dazzling, and it doesn’t necessarily sell tickets, but it has been awfully effective lately. The statistics don’t necessarily reflect that; UCLA came into Saturday allowing 75 points a game, worst in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Still, bringing the ball upcourt has become a chore for the opposition. In the Bruins’ last four games, all at home, their opponents have turned over the ball 93 times--an average of 23.3 a game.

Even when Villanova (10-4) got the ball across the halfcourt stripe, the shots didn’t fall.

“It’s such an ordeal . . . you never get in any kind of flow,” Wildcat Coach Steve Lappas said. “It’s just all disrupted.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, UCLA’s Jason Kapono was putting on an offensive clinic. Before a national TV audience and in the absence of center Dan Gadzuric--who played only nine minutes because of back spasms--Kapono scored a career-high 28 points in 29 minutes. Nineteen of those points came in the first half, when the Bruins cruised to a 44-30 lead.

“This was fun,” Kapono said. “It was touted as big time, and to play so well and have the team play so well is special.”

From Pitino-gate to nearly blowing a 19-point lead against USC, the Bruins had quite an emotional week. They came away from the Villanova game not only happy but relieved. They were primed for a letdown, after all, in the wake of a draining, 80-75 triumph over their cross-town rival.

“It’s been like that before,” Watson said. “We’d get a big win and then come back and lose to a team like Villanova--which is a good team--but we’ve lost to teams with less talent. . . . This showed our maturity, how we came in and played so well.”

Watson contributed 17 points and eight assists, followed by Matt Barnes (15 points, five assists) and T.J. Cummings (13 points).

“We took another big step in terms of progress,” Coach Steve Lavin said. “The overall energy and execution throughout the full 40 minutes was the best to this point in the season. Our kids are playing hard and unselfishly.”

The victory was particularly satisfying for Watson because of something that happened before tipoff. He was approached by Villanova point guard Jermaine Medley and berated out of the blue.

“I don’t know what he was trying to say,” Watson said. “It was a lot of cuss words. I was walking in and he was walking in and he said something. I’m not into that one-on-one personal stuff. I’m trying to lead this team.

“Point guards are starting to come in here and gain a reputation off of me now, and I realize that. For that to happen on the East Coast, for him to come in here and try to approach me like that, lets me know that I’m doing something positive.”

By the time UCLA players were finished talking, Villanova players had boarded the bus, so Medley, who had no assists and eight turnovers, wasn’t available for comment. But the exchange wasn’t one-sided; Watson confessed he did his share of talking during the game “and I had some cuss words for him too.”

Afterward, Watson was as content as could be. So were his teammates. They resume their Pac-10 schedule Thursday at Arizona State, and are heading into a tough two games in the desert with a 3-0 record in conference and having won seven of eight games. It didn’t hurt that UCLA opened Pac-10 play against the Washington schools, probably the two weakest teams in the conference.

“For once,” Watson said, “we aren’t behind the 8-ball.”

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Benchmarks

Steve Lavin won his 100th game as UCLA coach Saturday. Here’s how he ranks in Bruin coaching victories:

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Coach Years W L John Wooden 27 620 147 Jim Harrick 8 192 62 Pierce “Caddy” Works 18 173 159 Steve Lavin 5 100 42 Wilbur Johns 9 93 120 Walt Hazzard 4 77 47 Larry Farmer 3 61 23 Gene Bartow 2 52 9 Gary Cunningham 2 50 8 Larry Brown 2 42 17 Fred W. Cozens 2 20 4

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