Bruins wary of underestimating power of homecourt advantage

Thursday, January 28, 1999

Bruins wary of underestimating power of homecourt advantage

M. BASKETBALL: Struggling Washington State may give Davis
opportunities to continue team leadership on road

By AJ Cadman

Daily Bruin Staff

It has happened once before.

Three weeks ago, the UCLA men’s basketball team was to
participate in a game that it was expected to win by a large
margin. In their first conference road game of the 1999 campaign,
the Bruins thought they had a seemingly easy victory at the hands
of the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis.

Now, UCLA (14-4, 5-2 Pac-10) is smack in the middle of the
conference schedule as it travels to Washington. Playing their
third of four road games in a row, the Bruins face the Washington
State Cougars (8-10, 2-5 Pac-10) in Friel Court at 7:05 p.m
tonight.

Although the Cougars are the Pac-10’s sole sub-.500 team, UCLA
will not take them lightly.

"When you’re at the highest level of college basketball, which
we are, you understand how difficult this league is, and it’s
another challenging year in the Pac-10," said Cougar head coach
Kevin Eastman.

UCLA is coming off 18 and eight point road wins against Southern
Cal and Louisville, respectively. A large part of the Bruins’
recent success is due to the performance of star sophomore guard
Baron Davis.

"This year has been different because I am more of a student (of
the game)," said Davis. "I watch as much basketball as possible. I
think I am a lot more patient and confident. I just let the game
come to me in order to get into a flow."

But as a leader on the team in only his second year, Davis has
found a different role than the one he had last year.

"I’m trying to be more of a coach," Davis said jokingly.

While coach Steve Lavin will not be losing any sleep over Davis’
leadership role, he is pleased with the progress of his point guard
this season.

"We (the coaches) always tell him that because he is at the
point guard position, that when the opportunities present
themselves, we want (Baron) to shoot the ball," said Lavin. "He
knows when the team needs him to step up and dominate on the
offensive end of he floor, but not to the point where he is taking
poor shots."

Washington State enters tonight’s contest having struggled
defensively all season in the conference. The Cougars are allowing
78.5 points per game, last in the Pac-10 conference. They are also
letting their opponents shoot at a .459 clip and have a .067 assist
to turnover ratio, both last in the Pac-10.

UCLA, meanwhile, is second in offense, fourth in field goal
percentage, third in rebounding, and first in the Pac-10 in steals,
with almost 11 per game. The latter statistic has to do with the
tight defense and full-court pressure that the coaching staff has
implemented in an attempt to both create turnover offense and wear
out teams.

"This year’s team is as tenacious of a group of players that I
have seen in my eight years here at UCLA," said Lavin. "The three
things you need to improve and be successful are playing tough,
smart and unselfishly."

The area of main concern for the Bruins is Washington State’s
ability to successfully score from beyond the three-point arc. The
disparity between these two teams in this offensive category is
astounding; the Cougars lead the Pac-10 at 39 percent, while UCLA
is last at 29.7 percent.

Junior transfer guard Jan-Michael Thomas leads Washington State
averaging 16.1 points per game, sixth in the Pac-10. The former
Westchester High player is 63 of 137 from the three-point line.
Junior forward Chris Crosby complements him, averaging 14.6
ppg.

"Jan-Michael has to be a player we can count on for
double-figure points every game," said Eastman. "(Chris) gets more
comfortable on the floor as he lets the game come to him."AARON
MICHAEL TOUT

Matt Barnes beats a CSUN defender in a game played during this
winter break.

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