Players still smiling although Pac-10 title out of reach

Thursday, February 12, 1998

Players still smiling although Pac-10 title out of reach

M> BASKETBALL: Victory over Stanford could
start a late season comeback

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Conference championships are nice, but it doesn’t guarantee a
national title. Case in point – defending national champions
Arizona, who finished fifth in the Pac-10 last year. And with the
No. 9 UCLA men’s basketball team’s chances of a fourth-straight
league title greatly diminished, the Bruins are focusing on the
bigger prize.

"Right now our state of mind is that we don’t want to lose
another game," Toby Bailey said. "We are going to make sure if we
don’t win the Pac-10, that we at least put ourselves in a good
situation for the tournament."

Last Thursday’s loss to Oregon dropped the Bruins to third in
the conference and three games behind the No. 3 Wildcats in the
Pac-10 race. But tonight at Pauley Pavilion UCLA (18-4 overall, 8-3
Pac-10) will have a chance to stake a claim for second in the
conference.

The Bruins will face No. 14 Stanford, a team that has lost three
of their last four games after starting the season with 18
consecutive victories.

"A lot of variables make this an important weekend – second
place, a quality opponent, home court," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin
said.

Though the Stanford (19-3, 8-2) roster is packed with size, J.R.
Henderson and Jelani McCoy neutralized the Cardinal in the game
when the two teams met on Jan. 17 at Maples Pavilion.

"Our big men have an advantage over them," McCoy said. "Our
players are more skilled, can do a little bit more things out on
the floor, facing the basket and just overall skills. They got some
pretty good people, but we’ve got the advantage, and we’ve got to
exploit that."

Stanford would open up an 18-point lead after a half, but UCLA
would come back in the second to cut the lead to one. However, the
Cardinal still prevailed, 93-80, drowning the Bruins with 14
three-pointers. Stanford leads the league in three-point shooting
connecting on 40.7 percent.

"They beat us last time on the perimeter, I think if we shut
that down," Henderson said. "I think that it is a matter of putting
two halves together and stopping their three-point shooting."

Stanford’s Pete Sauer was five of six from three-point land in
the first match-up and led the Cardinals in scoring with 19 points.
Junior Arthur Lee added three treys and 17 points.

"The main thing is that we have to play hard defense, play as
hard as we can," Bailey said, "whenever we do that, that’s when we
win."

Freshman Baron Davis, who is suffering from upper respiratory
problems will suit up against Stanford as will McCoy (sore back)
and Henderson (sore arches).

"(My foot’s) real sore and everything, but I think that it will
be ready by game time," Henderson said. "I think once the game
starts I won’t feel anything."