Davis returns to hold court over Hornets

Thursday, December 3, 1998

Davis returns to hold court over Hornets

M.HOOPS: Bruins provide homecoming for guard with overwhelming
win

By David Arnold

Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA fans had a great deal to cheer about Tuesday night in
Pauley Pavilion as the Bruins won 109-67 over a Delaware State team
that put up little resistance.

Yet the biggest roar didn’t come after center Dan Gadzuric
nearly pulled the basket down on a dunk 11 seconds into the game,
or when guard Earl Watson found forward JaRon Rush for the
alley-oop in the second half.

No, the crowd found the biggest cause for celebration 13 minutes
and 22 seconds into the game, when one man stepped on to the
court.

That man was sophomore guard Baron Davis.

After tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a
tournament game against Michigan last year, this was Davis’ first
time back on the floor for the Bruins in over eight months.

And the team appreciated the event as much as the fans.

"It’s good to see him back out on the floor," said Watson. "I’m
really glad he’s back."

"(Baron’s return) is nothing but a positive. Even if he’d played
only one second, it would have been an energy boost," said forward
Sean Farnham.

And the warm welcome wasn’t wasted on the man of the hour,
either.

"It was sweet to get a warm welcome from the crowd," said Davis.
"It’s nice to be back doing something I love."

Obviously, though, both the fans and the team would have liked
him back as early as possible. That’s why he played an impressive
16 minutes just the day after he was finally cleared by the team
doctors.

According to his coach, however, had he been cleared just before
the game against either Maryland or Kentucky last week in Puerto
Rico, he probably wouldn’t have seen much time at all.

"I wanted him in a situation where he didn’t feel pressured to
take the team on his back," said head coach Steve Lavin.

Lavin also made sure to point out that he doesn’t "plan on
starting him for a long period of time."

Davis’s return has begun but is not complete. As things turned
out, the Bruins barely needed him at all to dispatch of Delaware
State.

The game opened up with a 10-0 UCLA run, and things didn’t get
better for the Hornets from then on.

In just 19 minutes of play, Jerome Moiso posted 18 points, while
shooting eight of 10 from the floor with seven rebounds.

But with five players scoring in double digits, it was nothing
less than a complete team game.

This being the first time this season the Bruins have scored 100
points in a game, one might be fooled into focusing only on an
offense that slowly had to find more creative ways to score and
keep the crowd in the game.

After forcing 20 turnovers, however, 14 from steals, much needs
to be said for the tough Bruin defense.

Delaware State struggled to get anything going offensively. The
Hornets shot only 38 percent on field goals and were only able to
connect on a mere eight assists.

The Hornets were led by a commanding performance by the Division
I leader in free throw percentage, Terrance Hood.

Hood played an impressive 37 minutes while only gaining one
foul. He scored 26 points, nine from free throws, but he made eight
of his team’s 24 turnovers, one of the major reasons the Bruins
came out on top when the final buzzer rang.

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