40 minutes is 2 seconds too long for UCLA

Monday, March 2, 1998

40 minutes is 2 seconds too long for UCLA

M.BASKETBALL: Dismal first half gives way to fantastic second
half, but No. 18 Bruins succumb to Washington as time expires

By Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Staff

SEATTLE — For 40 minutes Sunday, it looked as though there just
wasn’t going to be enough time for the No. 18 Bruins.

But in a cruel twist of fate, there proved to be just two
seconds too many for the UCLA men’s basketball team.

In a furious second-half rally, UCLA fought back from a 16-point
halftime deficit to take its first lead of the game with 12 seconds
remaining, then watched all its work get wiped away when Todd
MacCullough connected on two free throws in the waning seconds
giving Washington a 95-94 victory in front of 6,527 at Edmundson
Pavilion.

"It’s a tough loss to take," senior forward Kris Johnson said.
"We gave it our all today, we left it all out on the court. When
you work that hard and come back and keep scratching and crawling,
we usually get the win. We’re just not used to it."

It was the fourth loss in eight games for the struggling Bruins
(21-7, 11-5 Pac-10) and at the same time, gave a tremendous boost
to the tournament hopes of Washington (17-9, 10-7).

"It was a great basketball game," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin
said. "I felt we played well in the second half, the way we’re
capable of playing."

Behind Toby Bailey’s 32 second-half points (which tied a school
record), UCLA gradually battled back from its 46-30 halftime
deficit, but it looked as if time would run out on the Bruins when
they still trailed 92-87 with under a minute remaining.

But then in the wildest and wackiest 44 seconds of the Bruins’
season, UCLA completed its dramatic comeback – only to surrender
the lead and game at the bitter end.

Two free throws by J.R. Henderson and a layup by Bailey cut the
Huskies lead to one with 30 seconds left, and then when the
Huskies’ Thalo Green was fouled and missed one of his two free
throws, the Bruins had possession down 93-91 with 0:26 left.

Then Johnson – three days after clinching a win at Washington
State with a three-pointer at the buzzer – made another trey with
12 seconds remaining to put the Bruins on top for the first time
all game.

When the Huskies brought the ball back down the court, Bailey
stripped Dan Dickau – both UCLA’s Rico Hines and Dickau held on to
it, forcing a jump ball with 0:21 left.

With the possession arrow pointing Washington’s direction, UW
inbounded the ball from behind the Bruins’ basket.

And everybody in the arena knew what was coming – a lob to the
7-foot 1-inch MacCullough.

With his distinct height advantage over the Bruins’ tallest
player – the 6-foot 8-inch Henderson – MacCullough had dominated
UCLA all game, as he led the Huskies with 25 points on 9-of-12
field goal shooting and 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

The lob never came, however, as Henderson fouled MacCullough
before the ball could even be inbounded.

"There was a screen by the guard and they had done it before, so
I was real prepared for it," Henderson said. "I closed my fists so
the refs would see I wasn’t holding, but obviously it didn’t
work."

In fact, Henderson, who missed his first nine shots, but
finished with 20 points, knew he was going to be called before the
play even occurred.

"I could see (the refs) looking already," he said. "I knew we
were in trouble and something bad was going to happen when we were
trying to stop the ball so close to the basket."

MacCullough made both of his free throws to give the UW the
95-94 lead, and when Johnson missed a desperation heave at the
buzzer, the floor was mobbed by Husky revelers.

But if the Bruins played the first half like they did the
second, things would’ve been different.

UCLA made nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes, committed
seven fouls in the first six minutes and shot a 38.2 percent clip
and missed 10-of-15 from within five feet of the rim.

But then in the second half they played with tenacity and a
desire to win – scoring 64 points and connecting on nearly 60
percent of their shots.

Nobody exemplified the dramatically different tales of the two
halves than Bailey. In the first half he missed all three shots.
But he simply took over the final 20 minutes, making 13-of-17 field
goal attempts, including 3-of-4 three-pointers to spur the Bruin
comeback attempt.

"I just wanted to win the game really bad," Bailey said. "I let
down my team in the first half and I wanted to redeem myself. I was
hitting shots and my teammates saw that I was hot so they kept
getting me the ball."

In this case, however, the comeback was just too little too late
for the Bruins – a team that usually escapes with a win after
playing only solid 20 minutes.

But they know come tournament time in a couple weeks, that 20
minutes won’t be enough to go past the first round.

Like Kris Johnson said: "This one really has to sink in. If it
doesn’t, the season has already sunk."