Blue Devils run over Bruins
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 25, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Blue Devils run over Bruins
Disciplinary action keeps O’Bannon out for first half of
game
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
DURHAM, N.C. — Before Sunday afternoon’s match-up against UCLA,
Duke won 94 consecutive nonleague games in cozy Cameron Indoor
Arena dating back to the 1983 season.
Heading into Sunday’s contest, however, the streak appeared to
be in serious peril. After all, UCLA crushed the Blue Devils in
their last meeting, a 100-77 shellacking in Westwood last February,
and the No. 16 Bruins rode in winning 17 of their last 20
games.
Duke, unranked since Jan. 8, struggled to a 16-10 record,
including a 7-7 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference and only one
victory over a top 20 opponent.
As it turned out, the Blue Devils were able to capitalize on the
first-half absence of UCLA forward Charles O’Bannon and blow the
Bruins out of the gym in an 85-66, denying the Bruins their first
road victory at Duke in four attempts.
"I thought that Duke played nearly flawless," UCLA head coach
Jim Harrick said. "They were a lot more aggressive than we were –
they played a great game."
True, the Blue Devils turned in an impressive performance. They
committed just six turnovers, forced 18, and held the Bruins, who
lead the NCAA with a 53.0 field goal shooting percentage, to just
42.9 percent from the field.
But Duke’s cause was clearly helped by the first-half absence of
O’Bannon, UCLA’s third leading scorer (14.5 points per game) and
rebounder (6.2 per game).
O’Bannon, who hit the game-winner in the UCLA’s win at USC on
Thursday, sat out of the first half for disciplinary reasons that
neither player nor coach cared to discuss.
"That was my decision, I didn’t want to play him in the first
half," Harrick said. "It had nothing to do with performance –
sometimes a coach does what he wants to do."
Not that Harrick wanted to lose this game, and even afterward,
he was wary of gauging the impact that his decision had on his
team.
"I don’t think Charles’ absence affected the team," he said.
"Maybe it did, because we played a lot better in the second
half."
Without him, the Bruins had struggled through a shaky first half
that saw Duke’s lead reach 16 points when Chris Collins hit the
first of his four three-pointers with 8:36 left.
Bruin sophomore Kris Johnson, who was replaced in the starting
lineup just last week, filled in admirably for O’Bannon, scoring a
team-high 21 points, 12 of which came before halftime.
However, UCLA missed O’Bannon’s presence in the paint as the
Bruins yielded 11 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes. On
the game, the Bruins (19-7) were out-rebounded 41-35 and gave up 19
on the offensive glass.
"We’ve been an awfully good rebounding team," Harrick said. "But
we weren’t today."
Part of that can be attributed to Duke’s inside tandem of Greg
Newton and Taymon Domzalski, who combined for 20 rebounds. Part of
that can also be attributed to J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy –
UCLA’s best inside players.
Henderson, who leads the Bruins in scoring with 15.4 points per
game grabbed nine boards but was held to four points. And McCoy,
who leads the Bruins with 7.3 rebounds per game, scored 12 points,
but collected just four boards while earning a pair of three-second
violations.
Things improved for UCLA when O’Bannon finally checked into the
game with 16 minutes remaining. Consecutive three-pointers by he
and Toby Bailey sparked a 12-5 run that cut the gap to 62-57 with
six minutes to go.
But in the end, Collins proved to be too much. The senior guard,
who finished with a game-high 27 points, ended UCLA’s short run
with a 24-foot bomb at the 5:32 mark. Henderson posted up and
answered with a lay in on UCLA’s ensuing possession, but that would
be their last field goal of the game.
Collins sealed UCLA’s fate, collecting two steals, assisting
Newton on a monster tomahawk dunk, and scoring five of the Blue
Devils’ final 10 points down the stretch.
"Collins is a senior, and the experience showed for him,"
Harrick said.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Kris Johnson filled in for Charles O’Bannon and scored 21
points.Comments to [email protected]
