Cal game key to standings in Pac-10
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 31, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Earl
Watson drives to the hoop in a win over Oregon in last
Saturday’s game. MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tonight 7:30
p.m. Hass Pavilion
By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
There is no doubt that the Bruins realize the importance of
their road trip to the Bay Area this weekend to close out the first
half of the conference schedule.
To those on the outside, the focus of the team’s trip
north may be the Saturday rematch of their contest with top-ranked
Stanford, but UCLA (12-5, 6-1 Pac-10) knows that looking too far
ahead could easily spell disaster against California (14-5, 5-2),
who the Bruins must face tonight.
“The goal is to stay in the race for the Pac-10,”
said Bruin senior guard Jason Flowers. “This trip is vital to
that. It’s going to be a tough stretch against some quality
teams.”
“Especially on the road,” UCLA head coach Steve
Lavin added, “we know we have got to take care of the ball,
get good shot selection and get defensive stops. We know that if we
play good basketball, the byproduct of that is winning the
basketball game.”
The Bruins face a battle-tested Golden Bear squad that, with the
momentum of their fans behind them in Haas Pavilion, will force
UCLA to play tight defense in the paint or suffer the consequences.
Cal head coach Ben Braun has Cal shooting 47.7 percent from the
floor as a team, second in the conference behind Stanford. Add
6-foot-11 reserve center Solomon Hughes, the Pac-10 field goal
leader at 64.2 percent, to a balanced starting lineup, and the
Bruins are up against a disciplined team that takes advised shots
and is careful with every possession.
But the game is likely to come down to Matt Barnes’ second
straight challenge on defense in as many games. Coming off an
impressive weekend against the Oregon schools, averaging 18.5
points, seven rebounds and four assists in his last two games,
Barnes draws the defensive assignment against reigning conference
player of the week Sean Lampley.
The Cal senior forward averaged 24 points and 11.5 assists in
road victories against Washington and Washington State last week.
Lampley is currently the Pac-10’s second leading scorer at
18.9 points per game and Cal’s most potent offensive threat.
UCLA must harness Lampley’s all-around game if they plan on
successfully defending a Golden Bear squad that jumped out to a 19
point first half advantage on them last year in Berkeley.
“(Lampley’s) leadership and steadying influence on
the younger players has really been evident,” said Lavin.
“It’s his poise late in games in the huddle, talking to
players and the confidence he has in being the go-to guy and taking
over when the outcome of the game is still in doubt.
“He is physically tougher than Matt but similar in their
skill sets. We need to defensively have an awareness of where he is
on the floor and limit his touches. You just don’t want him
to have a career night and carry the team on his back.”
And while no one else on the floor for California averages
double-digits in points, it’s the collective effort of
Lampley’s supporting cast that has the Golden Bears in the
thick of the Pac-10 race.
“Cal is a tough place and team to play,” Barnes said
of Thursday’s game.
“The crowd seems like they’re on top of you. They
had us down last year, and we have to keep that in mind. If we
execute our game plan and play good defense, we should be
fine.”
California is still undefeated at home (10-0) and has won their
last 13 games in Haas Pavilion.
UCLA, meanwhile, has won 10 of its last 12 contests. Regardless
of the lack of national recognition in the Top 25 weekly rankings,
Lavin and company have gotten off to a good start and don’t
look to drop off anytime soon.
“This team has really begun to come together as of
late,” Barnes stated. “We got off on the right foot and
hopefully we can keep it up. We just have to go one game at a
time.”
Plus, the Bruins have confidence stemming from their 83-62
victory against California back on Mar. 2 of last year. The win
helped ignite UCLA’s late-season run into the 2000 NCAA
Tournament. Junior center Dan Gadzuric notched a career high 22
points against Cal that night, to go along with 16 rebounds that
helped the Bruins to a 53-27 second half.
