UCLA TOO HOT FOR CAL TO HANDLE 

 LOADED FOR BEARS:   BRUINS MOVE CLOSER TO NO. 1 RANKING WITH 104-88 VICTORY.


By JOHN AKERS 
Mercury News Staff Writer

BERKELEY -- UCLA, moving closer to the No. 1 ranking, reduced Cal's hopes of
being invited to the NCAA tournament to somewhere between slim and none
Thursday, defeating the Bears 104-88.

UCLA forward Ed O'Bannon found gaps in the Bears' zone defense and ripped
them apart, tying a Bruins record with seven three-pointers and scoring 27
points. Center George Zidek added 25 points.

The Bears (12-10, 4-9) now trail Stanford, the Pacific 10 Conference's
sixth-place team, by 3 1/2 games with only five remaining. Even if they did
win their remaining games, it's doubtful they could place themselves high
enough in the Pac-10 standings to gain the NCAA tournament selection
committee's attention.

The No. 2-ranked Bruins (20-2, 13-2), on the other hand, need only to defeat
Duke on Sunday to ascend to the nation's No. 1 ranking, though Coach Jim
Harrick is claiming he wants no part of it. They also defeated Cal for the
first time in five games, dating to the 1992-'93 season, avenging a 100-93
loss on Jan. 28 that ended with Cal Coach Todd Bozeman claiming Harrick and
the Bruins had shown his team disrespect by walking through their previous
day's practice.

The Bears and Bruins traded the lead throughout the first 13 minutes, but
UCLA went on a 20-3 run in the closing minutes and pulled ahead to a 48-37
halftime lead. The Bears pulled to within seven points eight times in the
second half before the Bruins scored nine points in a row and claimed an
81-65 lead with 8:42 remaining in the game.

Cal forward Monty Buckley scored 19 points, and guard K.J. Roberts came off
the bench to score 18.

The Bears started a three-guard lineup that was their 11th different look of
the season. Randy Duck joined the starting five, sending freshman forward
Tremaine Fowlkes to the bench, and the three guards chased the Bruins in an
aggressive zone that was effective until O'Bannon started tearing it apart at
its seams.

Cal center Ryan Jamison's nose was broken in practice Wednesday and he played
wearing a protective noseguard.