UCLA BEATS CAL, 104-88  2/24/95

By DON BOSLEY
McClatchy News Service

BERKELEY -- Yeah, but just let those Cal Bears get UCLA back in Pauley
Pavilion.

It did seem a little unfair Thursday night to give the Bruins the better team
and Cal's home court, but these things are sometimes inevitable. So, as it
happens, was UCLA's 104-88 pasting of the Bears, whose seventh straight
home-court loss snuffed their NCAA Tournament hopes but good.

The second-ranked Bruins still haven't lost since Cal raced past them 100-93
at Pauley on Jan. 28. Ed O'Bannon was still playing like just another
ordinary star back then, rather than the Kryptonesque player who suited up
Thursday.

O'Bannon -- a 6-foot-8 power forward, we must point out -- hit 7 of 9
three-pointers, tying UCLA and Harmon Gym records. He finished with 27
points, hitting 9 of 13 field goals overall, did it all before a live ESPN
audience that presumably included a fair number of voters for the Naismith
and Wooden Player of the Year awards.

Seven-foot center George Zidek added 25 points for UCLA, most of them on
back-door dishes from Tyus Edney and friends when Cal's defense collapsed to
one side. Edney, showing few ill effects from the tendinitis in his left
knee, finished with 11 assists to go with his 15 points.

Cal tried numerous defensive schemes but couldn't stop the Bruins assault.
UCLA hit 40 of 60 shots from the field, a season-high 66.7 percent.

Now, if the Bruins (20-2, 13-2) can knock off visiting Duke on Sunday,
they'll presumably own the No. 1 ranking for the first time since -- well,
what do you know: a loss on Cal's home court last January. In fact, UCLA's
win Thursday broke a three-game losing streak to the Bears.

For its part, Cal continues to look like one of the most entertaining NIT
teams you'll find anywhere. The Bears buried themselves in an 11-point hole
at the half but wouldn't let themselves be run out of Harmon Gym without a
fight.

Eight times in the second half, the Bears closed within seven. Eight times
the Bruins widened the margin again, finally deciding the matter in one
little 45-second span near the 10-minute mark.

His team up 72-65, O'Bannon scored on an acrobatic reverse lay-in. Twenty-six
seconds later he hit a three-pointer from the right side. Seventeen seconds
after that Zidek dunked, putting the Bruins up 79-65 and starting the fans
for the exits.

Monty Buckley scored 19 and K.J. Roberts came off the bench to score 18 for
Cal, which hasn't won a home game since it defeated Columbia on Dec. 28.

The problem with facing the Bruins is that they have no underbelly. All five
starters average better than 50 percent shooting from the field and 71
percent from the free-throw line, and the bench oftentimes looks like it can
whip the starters.

Cal (12-10, 4-9) had emotion on its side to start the game, and it lasted
about 13 minutes. Ahead 27-26, the Bears discovered that -- contrary to
recent opinion polls -- the Bruins do know where the three-point line is and
how it should be utilized.

O'Bannon provided the requisite demonstration, hitting three three-pointers
in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the half and 4 of 5 overall before the break.