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Thursday, December 5, 1996

BASKETBALL:

Benching of three UCLA players no barrier to dominationBy A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Contributor

Charles O'Bannon shot 72.7 percent from the field and 100 percent from the line en route to scoring 23 points and being named Player of the Game in Men's Hoops versus Cal State Northridge on Tuesday.

Toby Bailey broke out of his free-throw shooting slump, sinking six of seven, while dishing out a career-high tying 10 assists and scoring 14 points. J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy, both coming off the bench due to a "miscommunication" with the coaching staff added 16 and 18 points, respectively. A crowd of 7,427 sat in amazement in Pauley Pavilion as Bob Myers and Brandon Loyd started in their places.

With 11:59 remaining in the first half, Henderson, McCoy and Kris Johnson, also benched due to the infraction, came into the game with UCLA leading only 17-12. After they entered, the Bruins (1-1) were able to pick up the pace and push to their first double-digit lead at the 7:22 mark on O'Bannon's reverse dunk on one of Cameron Dollar's seven assists. While shooting 63.3 percent from the field, the Bruins held the Matadors (1-3) to a meager 35.3 percent. However, CSUN made up for their poor shooting by grabbing 23 offensive boards to UCLA's four. Northridge out-rebounded UCLA 44-32 on the night.

Nursing only a 47-34 advantage at half-time, UCLA managed to break the game open in the second half and pull out a 95-73 victory. The win was the first for interim head coach Steve Lavin since becoming Jim Harrick's replacement.