Long Shots Too Much for Bruins

Brad Holland returned to Pauley Pavilion for the first time in 10 years and found that the venerable building hadn’t lost its magic. Or its heart.

Its soul? To Keep.

Holland brought his team, San Diego. Torero center Jason Keep brought his game, a rough-and-tumbleweed style honed on the plains of Oklahoma.

And the Toreros left with a shocking, 86-81 upset of No. 14 UCLA in overtime Tuesday night.

In their opener, the Bruins were sharper and played with more energy than they had in two exhibition losses. But their home floor had no magic for them. And they just weren’t good enough to beat San Diego, a fair-to-middling West Coast Conference operation most years.

“They did everything necessary to win on the road,” UCLA Coach Steve Lavin said. “They established a force inside, they made their threes and kept their composure down the stretch.”

UCLA did none of the above.

Bruin forward Jason Kapono followed a 13-point first half with only four the rest of the way. He missed two potential game-winners at the end of regulation, two shots in overtime and made only one of eight three-point attempts.

Keep, a 6-foot-10, 280-pound center, scored 30 points and took 16 rebounds. As the game wore on and the guys in UCLA blue and gold became black and blue, their only recourse was to foul. Keep made 10 of 14 free throws.

“They did a poor job of boxing out,” said Keep, a senior who sat out last season after transferring from Oklahoma State.

The Toreros (2-0) shot only 40.6%, but outrebounded UCLA, 49-33. San Diego had 21 offensive rebounds, consistently out-muscling and out-hustling the Bruins to the ball.

“We wanted this one a lot,” Keep said. “We wanted it for Coach Holland because we knew how much it meant to him.”

Holland, a former Bruin star from the 1970s and the last player recruited by John Wooden, had not set foot in Pauley Pavilion since leaving as a Bruin assistant coach in 1992.

Like Lorenzo Romar -- another Bruin assistant who left before Coach Jim Harrick was fired in 1996 -- Holland must lie awake nights wondering what if. Had he not departed, first to Cal State Fullerton, perhaps he would have been in a position to seize the opportunity Lavin received.

To come back and spend even a few minutes before the game with Wooden and then beat the Bruins with the legendary coach among the 6,845 in the stands was consolation enough for one glorious day.

“It’s just a fantastic feeling,” Holland said. “This was just an absolutely special night.”

Holland was especially pleased that his 10-year-old son, Kyle, was able to meet Wooden and watch the game in the building where his father had played.

“The neatest thing was to show him where his old man played,” Holland said.

“To experience such a big win here, well, that means a lot as a father right now.”

Another son of a former Bruin standout nearly stole the show. Josiah Johnson, a sophomore forward who played all of 13 minutes last season, scored seven points in a row to stretch a two-point UCLA lead to 65-57 with eight minutes left in regulation.

But San Diego went to Keep, and Johnson got into foul trouble. Kapono and guard Jon Crispin fouled out in overtime as the Toreros repeatedly got to the line, making 25 of 36 free throws.

A basket by Keep with 1:17 left in regulation tied the score, 73-73 but Kapono’s miss was followed by a miss by Bruin guard Cedric Bozeman at the buzzer.

Torero forward Matt Delzell beat the shot clock with a three-pointer early in overtime and the Bruins never caught up.

Dijon Thompson had 21 points and five assists for UCLA, which had 22 assists only days after being limited to six assists in an exhibition loss.

Fourteen assists came in the first half.

“We played well in stretches and distributed the ball well,” Lavin said. “But at the critical juncture we quickened our shots. We got excited and became too perimeter oriented.”

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Seven-Year Hitch

Steve Lavin begins his seventh season as UCLA’s coach:

*--* Year Rec Postseason 2001-02 21-12 NCAA Sweet 16 2000-01 23-9 NCAA Sweet 16 1999-00 21-12 NCAA Sweet 16 1998-99 22-9 NCAA 1st round 1997-98 24-9 NCAA Sweet 16 1996-97 24-8 NCAA Elite 8

*--*

Regular Season: 135-59 (69.6%)

Postseason: 11-6 (64.7%)