Return to Glory

By AJ Cadman

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

It had been 20 years since the Wizard of Westwood captured his
10th national basketball title in 12 years. And since he left in
1975, the likes of Gene Bartow, Gary Cunningham, Larry Brown, Larry
Farmer and Walt Hazzard all tried their hand at picking up where
Wooden left off.

After a 16-14 record in 1988, UCLA took its chances on Jim
Harrick, a brash but intelligent coach who was seen as the one who
could restore the program back to its height atop the college
basketball world.

Seven years later, with at least 20 victories in every season,
Harrick found himself with a team dedicated to hanging banner No.
11 in Pauley Pavilion.

“It started with the loss to Tulsa in the first round (of
the NCAA Tournament) in 1994,” said current UCLA head coach
Steve Lavin, then an assistant under Harrick. “That was truly
the beginning of the road to the national championship. Our seniors
were disappointed at the early exit and helped set the tone during
the off-season.”

The Bruins entered the 1995 NCAA Tournament after completing one
of the most historic seasons in school history. They were 26-1
entering the tourney. But Harrick was a mere 7-6 in the
postseason.

UCLA ended the regular season with a 13-game winning streak.
With an 87-72 defeat to Oregon in Eugene as the only blemish on a
perfect record, the Bruins entered the postseason with the national
No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the Western Regional.

Their first-round contest pitted them against Florida
International. Like most 16th seeds in tournament history, Florida
International found out quickly that they had little chance of
slowing down the high-octane Bruin offense. Behind a game-high 16
points from freshman J.R. Henderson, UCLA prevailed, 92-56.

In the second round, UCLA met a difficult match: Missouri. A
seesaw battle ensued between the Bruins and the Tigers, setting up
one of the greatest finished in UCLA, and NCAA, history. With 4.2
seconds remaining and UCLA staring at a one-point deficit, the
Bruins had to inbound the ball against a tight full-court
press.

Enter Tyus Edney.

“Things might have been different had he not gone through
the situation against the Fab Five of Michigan in the Tournament
two years before,” Lavin said of the senior point guard.
“(Against Michigan) he stole the ball and raced down the
other end of the court and passed to Ed O’Bannon. He
couldn’t get a shot off and we went into overtime, where we
eventually lost.

“This time, he was taking it all the way.”

The 5-foot-10 Edney took the entry pass, weaved his way down the
length of the court before laying in the game winner.

Ballgame. UCLA 75, Missouri 74.

While senior Ed O’Bannon again led all scorers with 24
points, Edney’s heroics lived on in tournament and school
history.

And with the win, the Bruins moved one step closer to the Final
Four in Seattle.

After an impressive performance by Ed O’Bannon in the
Sweet 16 contest against Mississippi ““ a 86-67 victory behind
the senior forward’s 21 points ““ UCLA faced a tough
Connecticut squad in the Western Regional final in Oakland.

Despite a remarkable performance by the Huskies’ Ray Allen
(36 points), UConn could not find an answer for UCLA freshman Toby
Bailey, who had 26 points to go along with fellow freshman
Henderson’s 18.

Edney, the Western Regional’s Most Outstanding Player,
chipped in 22 points of his own to help the Bruins advance to the
Final Four for the first time in 15 years with a 102-96 victory
over the Huskies.

In the national semifinal, UCLA was in for a battle with a tough
Oklahoma State squad led by All-Tournament performer Bryant
Reeves.

Reeves’ 25 points were not enough to carry the Cowboys as
the Bruins won 74-61 to advance to the final on Monday, April 3,
where they met defending national champion Arkansas.

With an injured Edney starting and playing all of three minutes
before succumbing to a severely sprained wrist suffered in the
Oklahoma State game, sophomore Cameron Dollar stepped in.

“I was certainly very concerned when we couldn’t
have our most valuable player play,” Harrick said afterwards.
“Sometimes, these things work in your favor, and I would give
emotion and divine intervention a little bit of credit. But I would
certainly like to give our players a lot of credit.”

That would be six players, all the personnel UCLA had to face
the Razorbacks.

“I couldn’t believe that we beat them with six
people,” senior center George Zidek said. “I
don’t think anybody has any doubts now about what Bruin pride
means.”

Against the highly-touted 10-deep rotation and pressure defense
of the Razorbacks, UCLA opened the game trailing 12-5 before
substituting Dollar for Edney.

A subsequent 20-9 run in the next 10 minutes gave the Bruins a
25-21 advantage with over seven minutes remaining in the first
half.

Meanwhile, UCLA showcased a defense of its own to shut down
Arkansas playmaker Corliss Williamson. Williamson was only able to
score five points in the first half en route to 12 points for the
contest on 3-of-16 shooting.

With a 40-39 lead going into halftime, the Bruins were confident
but aware that another 20 minutes of war had yet to be played.

After pulling out to a nine-point lead that would later be
reduced to three early in the second frame, the Bruins looked to
their go-to guy: Ed O’Bannon.

The Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player was always in the
right place with a clutch putback or layup to keep UCLA’s
hopes afloat. He finished with a game-high 30 points and 17
rebounds and was assisted by a surprising 26 points from Bailey,
who had only scored nine points in the semifinal on Saturday.

After holding up one final charge from Nolan Richardson’s
Razorbacks, the Bruins put on a show, as they pulled away for a
89-78 victory before 38,450 at the Kingdome. Clint McDaniel had 15
points to lead Arkansas.

“When UCLA got in the championship game, I definitely
decided I would come,” Wooden said. “I told myself I
wouldn’t come unless they got to the final. I haven’t
been to the Final Four since it was in Indianapolis, and that was
the only one I have been to without my wife.”

UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis noted the importance the
title had for UCLA, which hadn’t won one since ’75 and
hadn’t advanced to a Final Four since 1980.

“A national championship brought quite a bit of
notoriety,” Dalis said. “The national media said that
we were back. It helped in recruiting in landing the classes we did
in 1997 and 1998, as well as in other sports within the
program.”

The students seemed to enjoy it, too. Masses of them gathered in
the streets of Westwood to celebrate, causing riot police to come
out in full force. Cars and vans were overturned. Students climbed
atop traffic poles and chanted the UCLA fight song. While the
Bruins had reclaimed their throne atop college basketball, fear
that massive uprising would occur forced the LAPD to take
action.

Two hundred officers were sent to the area, using tear gas, mace
and pepper spray to quell the crowds. But the use of batons and
rubber bullets caused a joyous celebration to get ugly.

For UCLA, though, the 1995 national championship meant the
culmination of a season of hard work, dedication and commitment.
From the players and coaches to the students and fans, the memories
of Banner No. 11 will live on in Bruin lore.

“When you do something as a team, you love each other as
brothers,” Dollar said. “And when one of your brothers
can’t come to the plate, you really just step up for him.
That’s what we did as a team. We showed that we are a UCLA
basketball team, and that’s the greatest feeling in the
world.”