Apology shifts focus back to basketball

Thursday, February 4, 1999

Apology shifts focus back to basketball

Conflict over, UCLA tries to recovery with victory over
Ducks

By Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

With the apology out of the way, Baron Davis and the rest of the
Bruins hope they won’t be looking for excuses after tonight’s game
against Oregon.

Two days after Davis apologized to the Pac-10 for comments he
made regarding the officiating of Sunday’s loss, the Bruins will
get back to the real business tonight when they tip off the second
round of conference play.

Davis expressed his regret over his behavior in a press release
on Tuesday.

"I would like to apologize to basketball official Terry
Christman and the Pacific-10 Conference for my comments following
the game in Seattle on Sunday afternoon," he said. "The game was a
very emotional one for our team. I said some things I shouldn’t
have said and I am sorry for my comments."

If he hadn’t apologized, Davis would have been forced to miss
tonight’s contest and become the first Pac-10 player ever to be
suspended for a post-game comment.

So finally, the Bruins (15-5, 6-3 Pac-10) can forget about the
events of last week and concentrate on basketball.

"Part of growing up is falling on your face first," UCLA head
coach Steve Lavin said.

The 93-83 loss to Washington on Sunday virtually eliminated the
Bruins from any chance at the conference crown.

But the Bruins won’t be the only team on the floor tonight that
has stumbled as of late.

Suffering through a terribly disappointing season, the Ducks
(10-8, 2-7) will come into Pauley Pavilion on a four-game losing
streak. Oregon has lost seven of its last eight games and is tied
for last place in conference play.

In addition, on Monday, back-up point guard Mike McShane quit
the team due to a lack of playing time.

In any case, Oregon should give the Bruins plenty of trouble.
UCLA barely escaped McArthur Court in Eugene with an 65-63 win in
January, and although the Ducks’ record is poor, their games have
been tantalizingly close. Six out of their past seven games have
been decided by four points or fewer.

The events of last week may actually help the Bruins tonight and
throughout the rest of the season. "I felt on the Washington trip
we were a whole team," Lavin said. "It was an incredible stretch of
emotional games."

And maybe tonight they’ll still have that whole team on the
floor when the final buzzer sounds.DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin

UCLA’s Jerome Moiso punches through the defense in last week’s
game in Washington.

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