San Diego 86, No. 14 UCLA 81, OT
Wednesday November 27, 2002By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) UCLA made another mid-major school look good.
Playing under their 11 national championship banners at Pauley Pavilion, the 14th-ranked Bruins lost to San Diego 86-81 in overtime Tuesday night.
``We were outsized, outmuscled and outhustled,'' said Jason Kapono, who had 17 points before leg cramps derailed his shooting ability in the second half and he fouled out late in overtime.
``That's how they got so many offensive rebounds and second-chance points and that's how their big fellow scored like a zillion points.''
Jason Keep scored 30 points and Jason Blair added 17 points for the Toreros, who beat a ranked team for just the second time in school history. They upset No. 25 Gonzaga 75-59 in 1999.
``They wanted it more on a couple of occasions and that was the difference in the game,'' UCLA center T.J. Cummings said.
Keep, a 6-foot-11 senior transfer from Oklahoma State, and the 6-7 Blair bothered UCLA inside, where the Bruins lack a true presence since Dan Gadzuric graduated and is now playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.
``We miss him a lot, but we're going to have to find a way without him,'' point guard Cedric Bozeman said. ``If that takes everyone getting down there playing some post defense, that's what it's going to take.''
The Bruins were outrebounded 49-31, with Keep grabbing 16 and Blair 15.
UCLA fell to 3-4 in season openers under seventh-year coach Steve Lavin, who was the target of derogatory shouts from fans filing out before the final buzzer.
``We are a long way away from being a good team,'' he said.
The Bruins lost their third consecutive home opener, with Pepperdine and Cal State Northridge pulling upsets the previous two years. Ball State stunned the Bruins a year ago in the season-opening Maui Invitational.
They were coming off a rocky preseason in which they lost both games, including the first by 25 points.
San Diego's victory in front of John Wooden was especially meaningful to coach Brad Holland, a former player and assistant at UCLA who hadn't been in Pauley Pavilion in 10 years.
``It's just a fantastic feeling,'' said Holland, who brought along his 10-year-old son. ``The neatest thing for me was I got to show Kyle where his old man played. He's heard all about UCLA. To have him here with me and experience such a big win just means a lot to me as a father.''
Dijon Thompson led five UCLA players in double figures with 21 points.
Kapono, one of only two seniors on UCLA's team, saw his jumper bounce off the rim with 4 seconds left in regulation. Cedric Bozeman grabbed the rebound near the free-throw line, but his shot was short to force overtime tied at 73.
``Those are shots I make throughout fall, winter, spring,'' Kapono said. ``I felt like I didn't have my legs.''
The Toreros led 80-78 when freshman Travis Smith failed to inbounds within 5 seconds and turned the ball over. But Kapono's shot hit the rim, and then Smith got fouled. He made one of two for an 81-78 lead with 28 seconds left.
Bozeman drove the lane and missed with 15 seconds left as boos rang out. Thompson hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left and UCLA trailing 83-81, but the Toreros hit three of four free throws to end the game.
Blair beat the shot-clock buzzer with a 3-pointer to open overtime for San Diego. Matt Delzell hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to maintain a lead the Toreros never gave up in the five-minute extra session.
``Matt hit me with a pretty good pass. I was lucky it went in,'' Blair said. ``I shouldn't have pump-faked. I almost didn't get it off.''
The Bruins never led by more than eight points in the game that was tied twice in the final 2 minutes.
``We gave up on what got us that little lead in the second half,'' Kapono said. ``On offense we started jacking shots, they started getting layups that were more patient. They forced us to play defense for 32 seconds and we didn't stay down and play defense.''
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