College men’s basketball: UCLA edges UCI at buzzer

Richard Dunn

LOS ANGELES -- Sophomore forward Stanislav Zuzak was open for a

three-pointer as the UC Irvine men’s basketball team worked for the last

shot to stun UCLA and win Saturday on the hallowed floor at Pauley

Pavilion.

An upset victory here over the 17th-ranked Bruins and it’s a defining

moment for UCI Coach Pat Douglass in his five years with the Anteaters.

And, in senior All-American point guard Jerry Green, who entered the

week as the nation’s fifth-leading scorer, the ‘Eaters had the ball in

the right hands.

Then, at the buzzer, it was one of Green’s patented shots -- a runner

-- but it didn’t fall and UCLA escaped with a 75-74 nonconference win

before 7,379 fans.

“We had a great chance to beat UCLA at UCLA,” Zuzak said. “But I think

it was a really great game. We should’ve won that game ... we lost a big

chance.”

Green’s shot missed everything except possibly grazing the backboard

on its way out of bounds as time expired and UCLA Coach Steve Lavin

breathed a heavy sign of relief. UCLA avoided another upset (it lost to

Pepperdine on Nov. 28).

“It would have been nice if that last shot had gone down,” said

Douglass, whose team (5-4), which opens Big West Conference play next

week, led most of the second half, including with 1:25 left.

“Jerry Green did display his talents and I thought he played a great

floor game, a much better floor game then he has been playing and still,

at the same time, was able to score (a game-high 27 points).”

Thanks to 6-foot-11 center Dan Gadzuric’s last-minute contributions on

offense and defense, the Bruins beat UCI for the second year in a row

(last year the Bruins won, 65-60, against a future 25-5 team and Big West

champion).

Gadzuric, who missed an easy two-handed dunk in the first half, made a

similar one with 1:04 remaining, then altered Green’s one-handed runner

in the closing seconds to preserve the win.

“Jerry Green put on a show,” Lavin said. “He played like a Wooden

Award candidate and an All-American and a player who might get drafted in

the NBA. We didn’t have any answer for him in the second half.

“Obviously we were very fortunate to be able to win this basketball

game against UCI. (The ‘Eaters) really played better basketball than we

did for the first 36 minutes, then in the last four minutes we were able

to make some big shots and some big free throws.”

After several timeouts, Green had the ball on the final play at the

top of the key. After UCLA’s Rico Hines switched off Green, Gadzuric

moved in on the 6-3 Irvine star, who forced an off-balance shot.

“I was just trying to play real tight defense and not let him at least

have an easy shot,” said Gadzuric, who had seven points and three

rebounds in 29 minutes.

Green, who also had five rebounds, two assists, two steals and eight

turnovers, said Douglass called a high screen for him.

“I was supposed to penetrate and take the shot,” Green said. “I tried

to do what I normally do -- throw up the ball, but it didn’t go in this

time.

“We came in and played well. We could have easily been blown out here,

but we were in it all the way to the end and I think we gained some

confidence from this game.”

The Anteaters, who have lost three straight, shot 75% in the second

half (15 of 20) and outrebounded the Bruins, 30-23.

“Teams we’re supposed to beat by a fair margin, we don’t,” said UCLA’s

Jason Kapono, who scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half,

including 13 straight over the final 6:31.

Kapono rallied the Bruins (6-2), who trailed by as many as seven

points with 12:57 left in the second half (52-45). Kapono sank 5 of 6

from three-point territory, mostly from NBA three-point range and beyond.

“(Kapono) can shoot the ball better than anybody in America,” Lavin

said.

Still, in a game with 13 ties and several lead changes, UCI seemed

destined for an upset win.

“I was pretty confident we had this game,” said 7-foot UCI center Adam

Parada, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, including an

8-of-8 effort at the foul line and two with 1:25 to play to give the

Anteaters a 74-73 lead.

UCI led, 64-58, after Zuzak’s two free throws with 6:48 to play, then

Kapono canned a three-pointer and added two free throws a minute later,

cutting the Bruins’ deficit to one.

His three-pointer from about 25 feet gave UCLA a 66-64 lead with 5:01

on the clock, then Kapono’s layup tied the game, 68-68, and he drained

another long-range three-pointer with 2:54 remaining to put UCLA ahead,

71-70.

“Kapono made some really big All-American shots,” Douglass said. “We

were all over him and he still hit the threes.”

With UCI trailing, 75-74, Zuzak missed a three-pointer with 0:25 left,

but the Anteaters retained possession when Gadzuric tipped the ball out

of bounds.

After a timeout, Green tossed up the runner that missed to let UCLA

slip out of the UCI upset-minded escape hatch.

“I was open for a three, but I don’t think Jerry could see me from

where he was,” said Zuzak, who scored a career-high 22 points. “The last

play was made for him.”

Green also committed two of his eight turnovers in the final five

minutes, when the teams were either tied or traded one-point leads.

For UCLA, Billy Knight added 21 points and freshman Dijon Thompson had

a career-high 14 points and seven rebounds. UCLA played without starter

Matt Barnes, who is nursing a sore left ankle after stepping on

Gadzuric’s foot at practice Thursday. UCLA point guard Cedric Bozeman has

been out after surgery on his right knee Dec. 3.

The game was similar to last season, when the Bruins trailed by four

points at halftime before rallying for a four-point victory. This time,

they were down, 29-27, at halftime, then scored eight in a row to go up,

35-31.

“We have been in this kind of situation many times before, and we

usually come out on top,” Parada said. “I definitely felt we had a good

shot at winning.”

Irvine put together a 20-14 run to go up 62-56 with 8:16 remaining,

before Kapono single-handedly took over, scoring the 13 straight points

for a 71-70 lead.

“It was a great gun show. Everyone was scoring,” he said. “I’m glad we

got out of here with a win.”