San Diego 86, No. 14 UCLA 81, OT
Wednesday November 27, 2002
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) UCLA made another mid-major school look good.
Playing under their 11 national championship banners at Pauley
Pavilion, the 14th-ranked Bruins lost to San Diego 86-81 in
overtime Tuesday night.
``We were outsized, outmuscled and outhustled,'' said Jason
Kapono, who had 17 points before leg cramps derailed his shooting
ability in the second half and he fouled out late in overtime.
``That's how they got so many offensive rebounds and
second-chance points and that's how their big fellow scored like a
zillion points.''
Jason Keep scored 30 points and Jason Blair added 17 points for
the Toreros, who beat a ranked team for just the second time in
school history. They upset No. 25 Gonzaga 75-59 in 1999.
``They wanted it more on a couple of occasions and that was the
difference in the game,'' UCLA center T.J. Cummings said.
Keep, a 6-foot-11 senior transfer from Oklahoma State, and the
6-7 Blair bothered UCLA inside, where the Bruins lack a true
presence since Dan Gadzuric graduated and is now playing for the
Milwaukee Bucks.
``We miss him a lot, but we're going to have to find a way
without him,'' point guard Cedric Bozeman said. ``If that takes
everyone getting down there playing some post defense, that's what
it's going to take.''
The Bruins were outrebounded 49-31, with Keep grabbing 16 and
Blair 15.
UCLA fell to 3-4 in season openers under seventh-year coach
Steve Lavin, who was the target of derogatory shouts from fans
filing out before the final buzzer.
``We are a long way away from being a good team,'' he said.
The Bruins lost their third consecutive home opener, with
Pepperdine and Cal State Northridge pulling upsets the previous two
years. Ball State stunned the Bruins a year ago in the
season-opening Maui Invitational.
They were coming off a rocky preseason in which they lost both
games, including the first by 25 points.
San Diego's victory in front of John Wooden was especially
meaningful to coach Brad Holland, a former player and assistant at
UCLA who hadn't been in Pauley Pavilion in 10 years.
``It's just a fantastic feeling,'' said Holland, who brought
along his 10-year-old son. ``The neatest thing for me was I got to
show Kyle where his old man played. He's heard all about UCLA. To
have him here with me and experience such a big win just means a
lot to me as a father.''
Dijon Thompson led five UCLA players in double figures with 21
points.
Kapono, one of only two seniors on UCLA's team, saw his jumper
bounce off the rim with 4 seconds left in regulation. Cedric
Bozeman grabbed the rebound near the free-throw line, but his shot
was short to force overtime tied at 73.
``Those are shots I make throughout fall, winter, spring,''
Kapono said. ``I felt like I didn't have my legs.''
The Toreros led 80-78 when freshman Travis Smith failed to
inbounds within 5 seconds and turned the ball over. But Kapono's
shot hit the rim, and then Smith got fouled. He made one of two for
an 81-78 lead with 28 seconds left.
Bozeman drove the lane and missed with 15 seconds left as boos
rang out. Thompson hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left and UCLA
trailing 83-81, but the Toreros hit three of four free throws to
end the game.
Blair beat the shot-clock buzzer with a 3-pointer to open
overtime for San Diego. Matt Delzell hit his fourth 3-pointer of
the game to maintain a lead the Toreros never gave up in the
five-minute extra session.
``Matt hit me with a pretty good pass. I was lucky it went in,''
Blair said. ``I shouldn't have pump-faked. I almost didn't get it
off.''
The Bruins never led by more than eight points in the game that
was tied twice in the final 2 minutes.
``We gave up on what got us that little lead in the second
half,'' Kapono said. ``On offense we started jacking shots, they
started getting layups that were more patient. They forced us to
play defense for 32 seconds and we didn't stay down and play
defense.''
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)