Parker and Sylvester

Monday, March 31, 1997M. HOOPS:

Bruins reflect on devastating loss, look back at turbulent
seasonBy Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — There was a 180-degree change in the mood
in the locker room of the UCLA men’s basketball team.

Had less than 48 hours passed since the Bruins celebrated
Cameron Dollar’s game-winning shot that extended their tournament
drive while ending Iowa State’s 74-73 in overtime?

A locker room that had been filled with jubilation two nights
earlier was abruptly filled with shock, disbelief and sadness with
the realization that the season that had taken them through so many
exhilarating and exhausting twists and turns had ended.

It was a sullen atmosphere after UCLA lost to Minnesota on March
22, 80-72, in the Midwest Regional Final and saw its hopes for the
Final Four and championship rings disappear.

"At the end when there’s only 30, 20 seconds left and you’re
down so many you just want to quit and just leave or try to make
that one last move because you don’t want to lose," J.R. Henderson
said. "It’s just real hard to accept; you wish you could put more
minutes on the clock."

It seemed that the Bruins were going to go from the Alamodome to
the RCA Dome in Indianapolis as ­ for a good portion of the
game ­ they commanded a lead that at one point stretched to
10. But with Jelani McCoy injured and Henderson’s hands tied on the
defensive end due to four fouls, the Gophers would pound the inside
and do what UCLA had done so well all season ­ come from
behind to win.

"It was quiet for a minute," said Kris Johnson, who after
fouling out with 1:19 left hid his face in a towel to hide his
tears, "and then we all got up and started hugging each other. It
was kind of weird. Everyone was saying ‘I love you man.’ It was
hard and everybody was crying, heads were down, which is what you
expect because we expected to win this game and we expected to be
in the Final Four."

McCoy said softly, "To come as far as we came and to (have it)
stop here, you have to console somebody."

It wasn’t just the players that were emotional.

Tears began to well up in UCLA head coach Steve Lavin’s eyes
when he realized in the last minute of the game that there would be
no Dollar shot to save the day and that this would be the first
time in 12 games that his Bruins would not be able to find a way to
battle back and win.

"It’s just so hard because you want your players to feel and to
experience that thrill (of going to the Final Four)," a choked-up
Lavin said. "I just wanted to be around them for another week and
to watch them be so happy after all the down days and all the
valleys that they have been through."

While there is still speculation about who is in fact coming
back amongst the underclassmen, the Minnesota game was the last
game in UCLA uniform for the three seniors ­ Dollar, Bob Myers
and Charles O’Bannon.

"I’m proud of them," junior Toby Bailey said. "They had a great
season. I’m glad that they are going to go on to bigger and better
things."

Without O’Bannon and Dollar, UCLA’s tournament run could have
ended up being nothing more than a jog. It was O’Bannon who sparked
the offense to come from behind in the Bruins’ second-round victory
over Xavier. And it was Dollar who sent the Cyclones packing in the
Sweet Sixteen.

O’Bannon, like so many times before, led the team in scoring
against Minnesota, tallying 22 points and playing all 40 minutes of
his final collegiate game.

"Someone asked me if I was sad that Coach Lavin didn’t take me
out to get a standing ovation and acknowledgement," O’Bannon said.
"But no, I wanted to go out on the final buzzer giving it my all
­ blood, sweat and guts. I’ve been here for four years and
wanted to go out as hard as I can."

While there was an air of disappointment that the seniors
weren’t sent off with a championship celebration, there was also a
feeling of accomplishment.

"I’m going to concentrate on the glass being half full," Lavin
said. "What we’ve learned about each other, about the basketball
family, about how life is a lot more important than this game or
the score of this game or whether we go to the Final Four or not.
It’s a special experience when you overcome and go through the
things that we went through and really that’s what college
basketball is all about."

For many Bruin players, it was the growth and maturation that
occurred through the course of the year that made the season an
especially memorable one.

"It was definitely a special season," O’Bannon said. "To see how
the team has grown from the Tulsa loss all the way to this
Minnesota loss and everything that happened in between. Even before
the Tulsa loss there was the loss of Coach Harrick. We’ve all grown
up and it’s extremely gratifying, just to see all my boys grow up
from boys to men."

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Dave Parker (l.) and Harold Sylvester leave the Alamodome after
a disappointing loss to Minnesota.