Bruins’ Mccoy Reels In Great Game

Top 25

The new UCLA kid is all right.

Freshman Jelani McCoy emerged as a future star with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 blocked shots Saturday as the Bruins defeated No. 20 Maryland 73-63 at the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

A year ago, freshman J.R. Henderson saved the game in the inaugural Classic by making two free throws with six-tenths of a second remaining to beat Kentucky.

This time, McCoy, who turned 18 three days ago, displayed the poise of a veteran by keeping the Bruins (3-3) together when the Terrapins got as close as five points in the second half.

His 11 blocks set school and Pac-10 Conference records.

With John Wooden and Bill Walton looking on, McCoy showed he could be the first legitimate center at UCLA since Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

“I don’t think I’ve had a guy get a triple-double for me in 31 years,” Bruins coach Jim Harrick said.

“He was an absolute monster. He took care of the inside.”

In fact, McCoy’s triple was only the 10th in Pac-10 history and the first to involve blocks.

McCoy’s blocks broke the UCLA record of eight set by David Greenwood against Boston College in 1978 and equaled by Rodney Zimmerman against Notre Dame in 1993. The Pac-10 record of eight blocks was shared by six players.

Injured UCLA point guard Cameron Dollar entered the game for the first time at the end of a second-half run. He wasn’t effective with both hands taped to protect injured fingers, and he committed a turnover right away.

(1) Kansas 101, San Diego 71

At San Diego, freshman forward Paul Pierce keyed Kansas scoring runs at the start of each half and finished with a season-high 24 points as the Jayhawks routed the Toreros (3-3).

The Jayhawks (5-0) got a scare when star point guard Jacque Vaughn went down hard when fouled by Andre Speech after making a layup with 7:10 left. Vaughn was removed from the game, and afterward left the court with an ice pack on his left wrist.

(2) Villanova 67, Purdue 50

With one of its most prominent graduates in attendance the Boilermakers played about as poor a first half as possible to fall hopelessly behind the Wildcats in the Wooden Classic opener.

All-American Kerry Kittles scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Wildcats (7-0) stifled the Boilermakers (4-2).

Wooden, who guided UCLA to 10 NCAA championships in a 12-year span finishing in 1975, was a three-time All-American at Purdue from 1930-32.

(3) Massachusetts 65, BC 57

At Boston, Edgar Padilla scored eight key points as the Minutemen (5-0) overcame a 13-point first-half deficit with a run of 17, and beat the Boston College Eagles (4-2).

Donta Bright had 24 points and Marcus Camby 19 for UMass.

Danya Abrams led Boston College (4-2) with 23 points.

(4) Arizona 90, Towson St. 84

At Tucson, Ariz., Miles Simon scored 25 points to lead the Wildcats past the Tigers.

Joseph Blair added 22 points and 10 rebounds as Arizona (4-0) struggled to shake Towson State (2-3) until the final minutes. Arizona never trailed.

(5) Kentucky 83, (16) Ga. Tech 60

At Lexington, Ky., Wayne Turner and Antoine Walker scored four points apiece during a 12-0 run that sparked the Wildcats to a win over the Yellow Jackets.

Mark Pope’s free throw started the Kentucky (4-1) spurt, tying the game 49-49 with 13:29 to go. Turner then hit a 10-footer and drove up the middle for the basket, each time following two missed free throws by Georgia Tech (5-2), for a four-point lead.

Ark.-Little Rock 70, (8) Miss. St. 68

At Starkville, Miss., Derrick Crayton’s tip-in basket with .6 seconds left gave the Trojans (3-1) a win over the Bulldogs (4-1).

After trailing 27-21 at halftime, the Trojans went on 12-4 run to take a 33-31 lead with 16:43 left. The teams then exchanged the lead nine times.

(10) Wake Forest 77, Florida 53

At Gainesville, Fla., Demon Deacons center Tim Duncan dominated at both ends of the court, scoring 14 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, dishing out nine assists and blocking seven shots.

Wake Forest (4-1) held the Gators (2-3) scoreless for more than 5 minutes midway through the first half.

(11) Missouri 86, Jackson St. 63

At Columbia, Mo., Norm Stewart passed John Wooden into seventh place on the career victory list as the Tigers beat Jackson State. Stewart gained the 665th win of his career.

Missouri relied on free throws for the win, outscoring the Tigers (1-5) from the line by a 28-7 margin.

(12) Iowa 56, Iowa St. 50

At Ames, Iowa, Andre Woolridge scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to rejuvenate the Hawkeyes after a ragged first half en route to a victory.

Iowa (7-1) built a 13-point lead then held off a rally that twice pulled the Cyclones (5-1) within one.

(14) Utah 59, Utah St. 43

At Salt Lake City, Keith Van Horn scored 16 points and Ben Caton added 14 as the Utes (5-0) beat the Aggies (3-4).

Utah, which holds the secondlongest home winning streak in the nation, has won 23 in a row at the Huntsman Center.

(15) Virginia 67, Richmond 52

At Richmond, Va., Harold Deane scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half, when the Cavaliers used a 19-6 run to break the game open.

Virginia (3-2) took control for a 61-47 lead with 3:45 remaining after the Spiders (3-3) closed to 42-41 with 14:22 remaining.

(17) Cincinnati 82, Arkansas 67

At Fayetteville, Ark., Darnell Burton, who came off suspension this week, scored 12 points in the first half and hit consecutive 3-pointers in the second half as the Bearcats (4-0) beat the Razorbacks.

Burton was suspended in April for a year for violating team rules.

Because of a change in athletic department policy, he returned to the team Friday night and scored 14 points in 16 minutes against Wagner.

(21) Illinois 97, Ball St. 53

At Champaign, Ill., Richard Keene scored 22 points as the Illini (6-0) routed the Cardinals (2-3) to win the Illini Classic.

(22) Michigan 88, (18) Duke 84

At Ann Arbor, Mich., the Wolverines, getting a career-high 26 points from Maceo Baston and 23 from Maurice Taylor, ended a long spell of the Blue Devils’ domination. Michigan (7-2) had lost six straight to Duke (5-2), which had won 16 of its previous 18 against Big Ten foes.

(19) Virginia Tech 99, VMI 67

At Blacksburg, Va., Shawn Smith scored 25 points, leading the Hokies (3-0) to a win over the Keydets, their 14th consecutive win over VMI (4-4).

(23) Louisville 101, Texas 78

At Louisville, Ky., the Cardinals, getting 24 points from DeJuan Wheat, took an 18-0 lead and rolled to win over the Longhorns. Louisville (5-2) used a trapping, full-court defense most of the game and forced usually high-scoring Texas (3-2) into 24 turnovers and 36 percent shooting.

(25) Santa Clara 98, Southern 59

At Santa Clara, Calif., Steve Nash set a school record with 15 assists, including a 40-foot alley-oop pass for a dunk, as the Broncos (5-1) defeated the Jaguars (2-2).