Gadzuric manhandles Arizona despite injury
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 15, 2001 9:00 p.m.
By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Junior center Dan Gadzuric was listed as doubtful before
Thursday night’s showdown between No. 24 UCLA and No. 8
Arizona.
“I hadn’t seen him all week until today,”
senior point guard Earl Watson said. “But when I saw him
before the game running up and down the court, I knew something was
up.”
If the definition of “doubtful” means a stat line
that reads 9 for 14 from the field, 22 points, 17 rebounds and
three blocks in 41 minutes, then the Bruins should hope Gadzuric
remains “doubtful” the rest of the season.
He sprained his left ankle in UCLA’s 94-88 nonconference
road victory over DePaul last Saturday. The result was swelling and
soreness earlier in the week that kept Gadzuric out of
practice.
“This was not some sort of psychological plan, we
weren’t sandbagging (the game),” UCLA Head Coach Steve
Lavin said afterward. “This wasn’t any sort of Willis
Reed thing. I just depend on the team doctors and trainers to let
me know whether he can go or not.”
Gadzuric took his spot in the starting lineup in a game with
immense conference implications. In the first five minutes, he had
a pair of fastbreak field goals to push the Bruins in front of a
highly touted Arizona squad that looked to spoil UCLA’s
chances at winning a Pac-10 title.
“I’ve been working on (the ankle) all week; every
morning, in the afternoon and at night,” Gadzuric said of his
amazing recovery. “We’ve been icing it, stretching it
in the training room. We put it in a compression boot and we (had )
it in the whirlpool.
“It felt good to be able to dominate the way we
did.”
More like manhandle.
Gadzuric clearly outplayed and outclassed one of the prized big
men in the nation, Arizona’s 7-1 senior Loren Woods.
The Wildcats’ player of the year candidate futilely put up
11 points ““ nine of which came from the free throw line
““ and eight rebounds before fouling out in regulation.
Meanwhile, Gadzuric carried the team on his back in
overtime.
He had a putback slam off a missed layup attempt by Watson to
give UCLA a 73-69 lead with 3:23 to go in the extra frame. With
1:04 remaining, he converted a fastbreak layup from Watson to lift
the Bruins to a 79-75 advantage in what turned out to be the
game-winning shot.
Then Gadzuric fouled Arizona’s Richard Jefferson with 1.6
seconds left in the game, preventing a lay in that would have sent
the game to a second overtime. Jefferson missed his two free throws
and UCLA held on for the win.
“This kid just healed quickly,” Lavin said jokingly.
“And he played his heart out for us tonight.”
