Point guard slam-dunks a great season

Published: Monday, March 1, 1999

Monday, March 1, 1999

MHOOPS: Bruins win final home game, but may lose great player

By Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

It was either a wave good-bye, or a salute to victory.

But whatever it was, there was one thing that remains certain. When Baron Davis, with his right arm raised toward the rafters, left the court for the final time in the last home game of the season, he left as a winner and left the crowd with some great lasting images - whether they be for just this season or for his collegiate career.

Rumors have abounded that the sophomore guard may declare for the NBA draft at the end of this season, cutting short his eligibility by two seasons.

If he does decide to leave, this was definitely the proper exit. In UCLA's 79-62 win over Washington, Davis was virtually a one-man highlight reel. Though Davis finished with 14 points and six assists, the box score seemed to show that he didn't have his best game as of late - Davis has averaged nearly 20 points per game in the last month. But it would be difficult to convince the Huskies, the 11,465 in Pauley Pavilion, or anyone watching Saturday night's SportsCenter of that.

His performance was so exhilarating that on his most talked about dunk he was called for a charge ... and no one cared. Davis was so dominating that a student section, which had been chanting "Two more years" at the beginning of the game, realized that this was probably asking just a little bit too much and chanted "One more year" at the end.

And his performance was so impressive that the only thing reporters wanted to talk about at the end of the game was whether or not this would be the last time they would interview Davis in the Pauley Pavilion locker room.

"Honestly, I haven't decided anything yet," he said, answering the question for the umpteenth time. "I'll make the decision after the season.

"I'll sit down with friends, coaches, relatives and figure out what's best for me, what's best for Baron Davis."

No doubt it would have been best for the Huskies' defenders if he would have left after last season.

Six minutes into the game, Davis took the ball on the left side of the key, drove through it and dunked over six-foot, six-inch forward Thalo Green. And though Davis was called for a foul, the momentum helped spur UCLA on a 15-6 run and an early 25-13 lead.

Then with two minutes remaining, and the game firmly in grasp, Davis really got hot.

In a move that is as difficult to properly describe as it is to defend - well, Davis told exactly what he did:

"I just brought the ball straight back behind me, and threw it around to myself."

Then dunked ... all in one motion.

It was a move that left the crowd speechless and defender Bryan Brown looking helpless.

Two possessions later, Davis did a tomahawk slam dunk during which he was so high on that the rim left a bruise midway up his forearm.

"If this was my last game, it was definitely a great one to go out on," Davis said in what may be the understatement of the year.

And whether he says it or not, his actions may just prove louder than words. It definitely looked like his last home game. On his way out of the game, he walked to mid-court then held up his fist to the crowd and received hugs from the entire team and coaching staff. Whether it was an act or for pure sentimental reasons - well, that will be seen in about a month.

In any case, Davis' performance and the questions surrounding his future overshadowed tremendous showings by both the team and individuals.

Freshman forward JaRon Rush finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds. He had eight of UCLA's 15 offensive rebounds. Freshman forward Jerome Moiso had his best performance of the last few weeks with 11 points and six rebounds, sophomore forward Travis Reed added 10 points and sophomore guard Earl Watson had a game-high 18.

And in its third impressive performance in a row - UCLA has outscored its last three opponents (Syracuse, Washington State, and Washington) by an average score of 90-64 - UCLA stayed even on the boards with Washington, despite a distinct height disadvantage. The Bruins also forced 29 Husky turnovers and only had 11 of their own.

This was the result of a 40-minute tenacious UCLA press which resulted in two things - a tremendous amount of transition and fast-break points for the Bruins, and would not allow Washington to get the ball down low to seven-foot center Todd MacCulloch.

In UCLA's 93-83 loss to Washington last month, MacCulloch was the difference, as he scored 26 points and had 21 rebounds. But, this time it was a different story.

UCLA just simply would not let him get the ball - he finished with only five shot attempts.

"We turned the ball over so many times that we eliminated MacCulloch ourselves," Washington head coach Bob Bender said.

MacCulloch finished with only 10 points and 13 rebounds, despite the fact that UCLA was missing its version of MacCulloch in six-foot, 10-inch freshman forward Dan Gadzuric, who is out for the season.

"We had to defend him by committee and we had to rebound by committee," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.

And as a result, Washington now needs to be concerned about another committee - the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. A week ago it looked as though Washington (16-11, 9-8 Pac-10) was a shoo-in for a NCAA Tournament berth, but blow-out losses to both USC and UCLA this week put its tournament-status in limbo. The Huskies have one more game - against Washington State next week - to state their case to the NCAA.

"This is a one-game season," Bender said. "There are no guarantees, (but) you finish fourth in this league, you deserve to go in.:

UCLA (21-7, 11-5) has no such concerns. The win, combined with Arizona's loss to Stanford, put the Bruins in a second-place tie in the Pac-10, and with two games remaining - at Arizona State and Arizona - the only question remaining is where UCLA will be seeded. UCLA is playing its best basketball of the season, and a sweep in Arizona may allow the Bruins to gain a desired third-seed.

In any case, the performance against Washington won't hurt the Bruins' case.

UCLA cruised to a 36-25 halftime lead, and extended it to as much as 55-34 with 11 minutes remaining. The Huskies would go on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes, and would eventually cut the deficit to 59-51, but would get no closer. The Bruins went on a 7-0 run over the next 63 seconds - culminating in a Davis three-pointer - to put the game away and perhaps the Pauley-Pavilion career of Baron Davis.

* * *

Both Rush and Watson went down with injuries in the second half, but both should play Thursday at Arizona State. Watson banged his knee with another player with about 10 minutes remaining, while Rush was knocked unconscious from a Husky elbow with just seconds remaining. Neither of them returned to play.GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Baron Davis readies one of his several dunks.

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