Bruins Lose Game of Chances

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — They came too far--geographically and metaphorically--to feel good about missing by so little.

This wasn’t a near-miss as much as it was a handful of dramatic almosts and could-haves for this fluctuating, frustrating and always fascinating Bruin basketball team.

“The game,” said UCLA senior Charles O’Bannon, minutes after Louisville pulled out a 74-71 victory Saturday before 20,043 at Freedom Hall, “was ours.”

Almost theirs, which could have been the perfect cap to two weeks of Bruin renaissance. Almost. Could have.

Mindful of their unimpressive nonconference record the last two seasons--and the price they paid for it last March during tournament seeding time--for most of the game, the Bruins (11-5) went shot-for-shot on the road against the nation’s sixth-ranked team.

The Bruins jumped to an early 22-11 lead, led by three at halftime, lost the lead early in the second half under a wave of Louisville offense that pushed the Cardinals’ lead to as much as seven, and to 64-58 with 6:07 to play, but rallied to lead in the final minute on the strength of O’Bannon’s season-high 24 points.

Then came the final 37 seconds, and a series of either-or plays that all fell Louisville’s way.

It began when Cardinal reserve B.J. Flynn, in an echo of Brian Kiser’s game-winner at Pauley Pavilion last season, made a three-point shot after a brilliant drive-and-dish by DeJuan Wheat, giving Louisville (16-2) a 72-71 lead with 37 seconds left. Flynn was the Cardinals’ offensive savior in the second half, when he scored nine of his 16 points.

Dollar grabbed the inbounds pass, tore through the Cardinal defense and put up a left-handed layup that would have given UCLA the lead. But the shot, just short, caromed off the left side of the rim, and Kris Johnson was forced to foul Alex Sanders on the rebound with 19.2 seconds to play.

“We had a chance to win, and I didn’t come through,” Dollar said. “I just missed the layup. I don’t normally miss them like that, but today, I did.”

Sanders missed the front end of his one-and-one free-throw opportunity, and UCLA called timeout after grabbing the rebound with 17.9 seconds left to set up a play for J.R. Henderson, who dominated USC on Thursday, scoring 24 points after being benched for the first five-plus minutes after a practice-floor flare-up with interim Coach Steve Lavin.

“We wanted to give J.R. the chance to win the game for us,” said Lavin, who had Henderson back in the starting lineup Saturday.

Henderson took a pass at the right wing, pivoted into a double-team, then was jostled as he lunged into the key. Henderson lost the ball as he fell to the floor, and was called for traveling with 8.2 seconds left.

“I got pushed--I’m not that clumsy to just fall down like that,” said Henderson, who scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “It could’ve been a no-call, but I didn’t expect it to be called traveling. I mean, I lost the ball, how could I travel?

“The play’s designed for me to turn and go by my guy, which is what I did, then he got the advantage when he stuck his knee out.”

Henderson didn’t know who bumped him, but Sanders conceded he made contact on the drive.

“It could’ve been a foul, it could’ve been traveling,” Sanders said. “It was lucky for us.”

Wheat, who scored 17 points (all five of his field goals were three-pointers), was fouled and made two free throws with 5.6 seconds left, giving UCLA the ball back and the chance to tie.

So, when Dollar ran down the court, then dropped the ball off for Toby Bailey, who from about 35 feet had a clean view of the hoop, overtime seemed like a possibility.

“I thought so,” said Bailey, whose eight first-half points triggered the early Bruin success. “I know the guys on the bench thought it was in.”

But the ball glanced off the front rim, and the Bruins’ four-game winning streak was over.

“I believe we controlled the tempo from the tip-off,” O’Bannon said. “Even though they got a little lead, we were still confident we would win the game. But we didn’t.”

Lavin, though, saw gleams of light amid the disappointment--especially recalling UCLA’s 3-3 start, or its 48-point loss at Stanford 16 days earlier.

“We competed, we fought hard, and we got the ball to J.R. at a critical moment in the game with a chance to win it, and Toby’s shot could’ve gone in,” Lavin said.

“You just want a chance to win it at the end. They got a shot, and they made theirs, and ours rolled off.”