Walcott steps up, helps lead team to victory over Wildcats
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 14, 2002 9:00 p.m.
By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Reporter
With three minutes left and the game on the line, UCLA head
coach Steve Lavin left blue-chip point guard Cedric Bozeman on the
bench.
In his place, he brought in little-used 6-foot-1 redshirt
freshman Ryan Walcott to assume the point guard duties.
Walcott responded with a gutsy performance, shutting down
Arizona’s prime-time player, junior guard Jason Gardner, on
the last drive by blanketing him and not allowing him to get a shot
off.
But that play was typical Walcott, who responded with arguably
the best performance of his UCLA career. The Phoenix native set a
career high for minutes (15), tied a career high for assists (3),
and most importantly, made some huge defensive plays to help lead
UCLA to a crucial victory.
“I’m so happy, I can’t even explain it,”
Walcott said. “It is such a big win for us.”
Going into the game, Walcott had a feeling he would see more
time than his 7.4 minutes-per-game average.
When UCLA visited Arizona earlier this season, he set his
previous career high in minutes with 14. In that game, he helped
hold Gardner to just 19 points.
So when he woke up this morning, he was as excited as he’d
been in a while.
“This morning, I felt like this is Arizona, my hometown.
And I’ve had Gardner on my mind all day,” he said.
“It’s hard to guard a person like Gardner, cause he can
take it to the hole or shoot threes.”
But Walcott’s coach and teammates were impressed with the
job he did, especially during the last stretch of the game.
“Ryan stepped up big on that last drive,” senior
guard Billy Knight said. “He stuck with Gardner on that last
shot, and that helped win the game for us.”
Walcott’s performance has probably earned him an increased
role on the team.
His smaller height and quick, up-tempo style of play allow him
to match up better against speedy point guards such as Gardner.
“He is the only true point guard we have,” Knight
said. “He should play a lot more minutes after
tonight.”
Lavin said after the game that Walcott will continue to share
point guard duties with Bozeman, but Bozeman will still start.
Still, Walcott turned a lot of heads Thursday, including Bruin
legend Bill Walton, who took in the game from a courtside seat.
“Ryan provided steady leadership,” Walton said.
“He played a fine game.”
