Bruins get physical in 84-78 win

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona forward Michael Dickerson goes up for a shot against UCLA forward Charles O'Bannon in an overtime loss against the Bruins on Saturday.

"It feels like the end of the world," UA junior forward Bennett Davison said. "We come (to Los Angeles) and we think that we can just walk in the gym and beat USC. But we don't come out with the intensity and we end up beating ourselves. Then we came into UCLA knowing we had a tough game, but we couldn't keep them off the boards. It's just very frustrating."

The climax of Arizona's (10-4 overall, 3-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) frustration in its 84-78 loss to the Bruins came with about two minutes left in overtime. With the two teams deadlocked at 75, Davison made a key block with 15 seconds remaining on the shot-clock. Yet the shot-clock was reset to 35 seconds, even though the ball had, apparently, not hit the rim. The extra time allowed UCLA (10-4, 5-1) to get to the free-throw line and take a 77-75 lead that they would not relinquish.

"Right after the block, we got the official's attention to get the situation corrected," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "He asked the guy working the shot-clock and he said that the ball had hit the rim. That was hard for us to take especially since Bennett had blocked it eight feet from the basket. I mean, you make a mistake, admit you made a mistake, but don't lie and say it never happened. I think that we have a very professional conference and it's very disappointing to me that we wouldn't have somebody responsible enough to admit they made a mistake."

Another tough pill to take was that Arizona finished the game with 13 more fouls than the Bruins, seeing three key players foul out in freshman Mike Bibby and sophomore big-men Donnell Harris and A.J. Bramlett.

"I don't know what to think about the fouls," UA forward Michael Dickerson said. "The refs said before the game that they were going to call fouls. We have to take it seriously when the refs tell us straight up that are going to call the slightest fouls."

"I guess we just foul more than they do," Olson said in response to the team's 29 fouls. "See, we've got to pick up whatever (UCLA coach) Steve's (Lavin) game plan is to do that."

While some calls were questionable, the team's deficiency in the score was do mostly to poor defense and rebounding. In the first half, the Bruins were 12 of 13 in the paint and hit only one shot outside of 15 feet.

"They're not really an outside shooting team," UA junior guard Miles Simon said. "They get the ball inside with their penetration, and that's how they get their points."

For the game, the tandem of sophomore center Jelani McCoy and O'Bannon proved too active on the inside. McCoy finished with 15 points on 7 of 7 shooting, while O'Bannon added 24 points and 13 rebounds. For the Wildcats, the play of Simon and Davison kept it close. Simon had 23 points and Davison added two blocks, six rebounds and four steals to his nine points.

"I thought UCLA did an exceptional job on the glass and we could not keep them out," Olson said. "Even when they missed a free-throw, it seemed they got the rebound."

The Wildcats began the game with a 13-5 run and appeared to have the Bruins rattled. However, with 14:30 left in the first half, the Bruins went on a 12-0 run that lasted six minutes and included seven offensive rebounds. While the Wildcats finished the half with a 34-32 lead, they were visibly frustrated that they had allowed UCLA to get back into the game.

"I don't know what the deal was," Bramlett said. "We were trying, but we weren't getting enough balls on the defensive side. And those are the things you have to do if you want to win a championship."

The Bruins also neutralized Dickerson, who struggled for the second straight night, holding him to just 12 points on 5 of 16 shooting.

"They did a great job on Michael," Olson said. "As soon as he put it down they doubled him right away."