Ben Howland kept his cool at halftime when UCLA trailed by double digits.
He didn’t let his nerves get to him as the frantic final seconds ticked off.
But the Bruins’ new basketball coach couldn’t help but heap praise on his players for showing some – whatchamacallit – heart after UCLA rang in the new era by pulling out a 68-67 season-opening win over Vermont on Saturday.
“Maybe in the back of their minds, they were thinking ‘Oh no, here we go again,’ but they didn’t let that affect them,” Howland said. “They showed some toughness and some character to fight back.
“What’s great is that they overcame adversity.”
A successful Ryan Hollins free throw with 4.8 seconds left in the game was the only difference between Howland detailing how UCLA exhibited the very attributes he demands of his teams and lamenting how the Bruins maddeningly played at times as though an off-season coaching change had never been made.
Then again, UCLA had gotten used to no-name teams overrunning Pauley Pavilion, and scrappy Vermont (0-3) was poised to fit the bill with the Bruins operating under adverse circumstances.
UCLA only had two available forwards on the roster after starting freshman power forward Trevor Ariza suffered a collapsed lung in practice Thursday and was deemed unavailable for the next two weeks.
Junior Josiah Johnson made his first career start, but he as well as sophomore centers Michael Fey and Hollins, who each picked up two first-half fouls, were no match for Vermont forward Taylor Coppenrath.
The 2002-03 America East Conference Player of the Year scored 38 points to tie his career high, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cap off a 20-6 run and give the Catamounts a 34-23 lead at halftime.
“Coppenrath we just had no answer for,” Howland said. “The guy’s a hell of a player. He’s going to make money playing basketball someday.”
But it was UCLA, despite being one of only three Division I teams to finally open its season on Saturday, and shooting just 31 percent from the field in the first half, that was money in the end.
UCLA guard Brian Morrison drained a 3-pointer with 48.8 seconds left after taking a charge from Coppenrath to give the Bruins a 67-64 lead. After Coppenrath tied the game with a 3-pointer of his own, Hollins was fouled on a dunk attempt and converted one of his two free throw attempts.
T.J. Sorrentine’s desperation 3-pointer came after the buzzer, and Vermont coach Tom Brennan stormed off the court all the while yelling at the referees for a foul call that never came.
“They were a good team, but we knew we were going to win the game,” said UCLA forward Dijon Thompson, who had 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds. “We fought back.”
Fey finished with career highs of 20 points and eight rebounds and keyed an 11-0 second-half run with big put-backs and blocks that gave UCLA a 43-41 lead with 10:40 to go.
“I was being more active,” said Fey, who only had two points at halftime. “But that wasn’t the game plan. The game plan was to just get back in the game however we could.”
Junior Cedric Bozeman, playing on a sprained ankle, dished out a career-high nine assists, not including the last-second feed to Hollins, and scored 12 points.
Howland counted 36 of his friends and family on hand to see him make his UCLA debut. Now, with his first win as a Bruin under his belt, it appears he’ll be more comfortable in calling his inherited players his own.
“I’m really proud of the fact they never quit, they never gave up, they never stopped believing that we were going to win,” Howland said. “That’s how you have to respond when you’re down.”