A UCLA Backdoor Play, Assist to USC

Is this a good thing or merely more torture?

UCLA sneaked into the Pacific 10 Conference tournament Saturday by virtue of USC’s victory hours after the Bruins wasted their best effort in weeks in an excruciating 60-59 loss to Oregon.

Good thing or simply a set-up for more heartache?

“It’s a whole new season, so it’s a good thing,” Coach Ben Howland said moments after learning USC had won during his team’s short layover in San Francisco on the way home.

The Bruins (11-16, 7-9) lost 13 of their last 15 regular-season games and finished seventh in the Pac-10, the worst conference finish in their history. And now they are indebted to their arch-nemeses, the Trojans.

Henry Bibby called Howland 20 minutes before USC took the court against Oregon State and said, “We’ll do the best we can to get both L.A. teams in.”

Said Howland: “We appreciate the assist from Henry and the Trojans.”

Yes, the Bruins are happy to take the berth and play another day.

It means the season did not end when guard Cedric Bozeman missed a short fall-away shot with two seconds to play at frenzied McArthur Court.

It means the career of senior T.J. Cummings did not end when he fouled out with less than a minute to play after posting his fifth double-double of the season.

It means the first year of the Howland era did not end with the Oregon student section holding up stick figures of his predecessor and chanting, “You’re not Lavin.”

Instead, seventh-seeded UCLA will face second-seeded Washington on Thursday.

And that really could be a good thing. The Bruins defeated the Huskies in both regular-season meetings.

“That’s the hottest team in our league and it’s hard to beat a good team three times,” Howland said. “But our kids know they have beat them. We didn’t want it to end with this game closing the book.”

Oh, yes, the game against Oregon.

The abridged version is that Duck senior Luke Jackson put a storybook finish on his illustrious career in probably his last home game, making two free throws with 13 seconds to play for the deciding points.

The complete story is more complex -- an uncommonly spirited effort by the Bruins dissolving into tentative decisions in the deafening waning moments.

“Somebody bumped my waist, but you won’t get that call at the end,” said Bozeman, who had one of his better games with 10 points and six assists.

Howland has bitten his lip about Pac-10 officiating all season, but he couldn’t contain himself, saying: “In the last 4:30, the calls, the officials, favored the home team for whatever reason. You have to have the ability to let the players make the plays.”

Particularly galling to him were two fouls called on Trevor Ariza.

The first, a charging call, nullified a layup by the Bruin forward with 4:29 to play and UCLA ahead by two.

The second was the call that sent Jackson to the line for the winning free throws. Ariza stabbed at the ball, knocking it loose and prompting a whistle.

Said Ariza: “I thought I got all ball.”

Said Jackson: “I can’t believe he just hacked me like that. He pretty much fouled me without me making a move.”

Told Howland believed it was not a foul, Jackson said: “He fouled me hard. Ben will watch that on TV and see that it was a foul.”

UCLA held Oregon to one field goal in the first eight minutes, forcing turnovers, switching and double-teaming effectively and diving for loose balls. Jackson, who is averaging 21.6 points, did not score until midway through the first half.

Offensively, UCLA worked the ball into centers Ryan Hollins and Michael Fey, sometimes recklessly, sometimes effectively. Each team had 11 turnovers in the half, but Oregon scored on only 10 of its 34 possessions and UCLA held a 29-23 halftime lead.

Intensity was evident in several Bruins. Dijon Thompson badgered Bozeman during a timeout for not passing him the ball, guard Brian Morrison shot Howland a disgusted look and rode the bench for a long stretch because of it, and the flu-ridden Ariza savagely crashed the offensive boards, then spent breaks in the action coughing violently into a towel.

However, Oregon (14-11, 9-9) scored nine points in the first 89 seconds of the second half, turning the six-point deficit into a 32-29 lead. The plucky Ducks scored 18 points in the first four minutes and led, 41-34.

As the sellout crowd of 9,084 got louder, the Bruins lost composure. Hollins fouled Duck guard Andre Joseph on three-point attempts twice in a 25-second span, and Joseph made all six free throws.

But UCLA again battled back, tying the score, 52-52, with five minutes to play by working the ball into the paint and pounding the boards. The Bruins outrebounded Oregon, 33-24.

The Ducks shot 38.4%, which, along with the rebounding disparity, normally might point to a UCLA win. But there were those 20 Bruin turnovers.

Better ball-handling will be necessary against Washington, which won its last seven Pac-10 games after a loss to UCLA on Feb. 7. Howland said the Bruins would not practice Monday.

“For us to go past the first day, we have to have bounce in our legs,” he said.

Yet thanks to USC, the Bruins had plenty of bounce in their step by the time they returned to Los Angeles.