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Friday, February 27, 1998

Bruins snare Cougars with last-second shot

RECAP: Johnson makes three in repeat of last year's performance

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Kris Johnson had an identity crisis Thursday night at Friel Court. For a moment there, he thought he was Cameron Dollar.

Last year, the No. 18 UCLA men's basketball team needed Dollar's last-second shot to put away Washington State by one point. This year, the Bruins (21-6 overall, 11-4 Pac-10) relied on Johnson's last-second heroics to defeat the Cougars, 78-75.

Washington State tied the score at 75 behind Carlos Daniel's two free throws. So with 27 seconds left in the game, UCLA had one last chance to prevent an overtime game.

Baron Davis brought the ball up the court and passed it to Johnson. Davis wanted the ball back, but Johnson kept dribbling against WSU's Will Hutchens. Johnson waved his teammates off, and with 0.3 seconds to go, sank his only three-pointer of the night. Johnson ranks sixth in the conference with his 42.2 three-point percentage.

"I made up my mind to take that shot," Johnson said. "My dad had told me this story about Sidney Wicks (a former UCLA star) how he had the ball and he waved a couple of guys off and hit a 25-footer. When I went and got the ball at the top that thought flashed in my mind, and I was like, 'Forget this, I'm taking it.'

"I work on my threes everyday after practice, so I was real comfortable and real confident in taking that shot. I really felt that it was going to go in."

In a game that would finish last in a beauty contest, UCLA struggled all night against Washington State (9-18, 2-14). The Bruins shot only 38.7 percent from the field in the first half, though the Cougars shot worse at 35.7 percent. But WSU would still take a 36-32 lead into intermission.

The second half was punctuated with multiple ties and lead changes. But all three seniors would make pivotal plays to pull out their 100th career victory.

Toby Bailey drove down the baseline for a slam and a foul to put the Bruins up by two with 2:29 left. Meanwhile J.R. Henderson did his job on the defensive end blocking a Cougar attempt with 0:52 remaining to keep a 75-73 lead intact a few precious seconds longer.

And of course there was Johnson's game-winning shot. Johnson led the team with 20 points, followed by Bailey with 19 and Henderson with 15. Both Bailey and Henderson were the leading rebounders for the Bruins with nine each.

"I thought our seniors down the stretch really stepped up," said UCLA head coach Steve Lavin. "It was kind of appropriate that our seniors' 100th victory that they were the ones that determined the outcome down the stretch."

There was a scary moment for the Bruins in the second half, however. Freshman Earl Watson suffered a concussion and was knocked unconscious when Watson went up to try to contest Daniel's shot at the 15:56 mark.

On their way down, Daniel's forearm belted the right side of Watson's face. Watson laid face down on the floor for seven minutes and it wasn't until 10 minutes had passed that Watson walked off the floor under his own power.

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