It’s Final: Ucla Vs. Arkansas Edney Makes Shots To Get One At Title

UCLA’s best play in the NCAA Tournament is 5-Game Flat.

When opponents hear UCLA point guard Tyus Edney holler that play, they’d be wise to form a five-man fence around the 5-foot-10 speedster.

Designed to let him bee-line to the bucket, Edney used the play to generate eight points in the final 4 minutes Saturday as top-ranked UCLA flattened Oklahoma State 74-61 in front of 38,540 at the Kingdome.

The win pushed UCLA (30-2) into Monday’s championship game against 1994 titlist Arkansas, which held off North Carolina 75-68. Game time is 5:40.

Edney’s late-game slashes finally gave the Bruins breathing room from a determined Cowboys club, which finished 27-10.

“Coach just said try to penetrate,” said the baby-faced Edney, who finished with a team-high 21 points.

“He was quicker than I expected,” said OSU point guard Andre Owens, blankly staring into a sea of cameras, microphones and notebooks.

Owens has company in that department. Edney’s coast-to-coast drive in the final seconds against Missouri two weeks ago propelled UCLA toward the Final Four in the first place. He also victimized Connecticut last weekend.

In this one, UCLA bloodied OSU throughout but could never deliver the knockout. Oklahoma State did take a few standing 8-counts - trailing at 31-23 and 48-40 - only to return to nip at the Bruins’ heels.

Chianti Roberts’ acrobatic layin pulled OSU within 58-56 with 3:48 left. Edney followed with a driving layup, two free throws, another driving layup and two more free throws.

With 1:32 left, UCLA led 66-61. The Bruins then made eight straight foul shots - finishing 24 of 28 - to make the final score somewhat deceiving.

After OSU coach Eddie Sutton pulled his starters in the closing seconds, UCLA coach Jim Harrick gathered his three assistants for a group hug.

He told them: “Get out there and scout (the Arkansas-North Carolina game).”

The Bruins won despite playing the final 25 minutes at OSU’s controlled pace. In fact, OSU did about everything it wanted, but couldn’t quite bridge the talent gap.

“We did a decent job in transition defense and rebounding, which I thought would be the keys, and the game settled into a game in the 60s,” Sutton said. “But we did a poor job of protecting the ball.”

The first half, which ended tied at 37, resolved little - other than to show OSU’s, well, considerable resolve.

Many UCLA field goals were candidates for the highlight reel, including one back-to-the-basket fling by Edney. Meanwhile, OSU plodded along, dumping the ball into Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, who scored 18 firsthalf points.

UCLA used a 2-3 zone to put the squeeze on Reeves in the second half, and the Cowboys’ 7-foot center admitted to tiring. He has played every minute of OSU’s last four games.

“We weren’t able to swing the ball fast enough,” said Reeves, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. “They did a good job running me and I got a little tired.”

“I moved my feet more in the second half,” UCLA center George Zidek said.

Added Bruins forward Ed O’Bannon: “We just tried to get as many people around him (Reeves) and as many hands in his face as we could.”

Randy Rutherford, OSU’s other primary weapon, scored 13 points. But he finished just 4 of 13 and only occasionally showed his usual deadeye form on 3-pointers.

“Sometimes they go,” he said tersely, “sometimes they don’t.”

They were going for UCLA sophomore Charles O’Bannon. He supplied 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Older brother Ed shot erratically but totaled 15 points and eight rebounds.

OSU received decent production from Roberts, a sophomore wing, but managed only 40-percent shooting as a team.

“We are not a very good shooting team, once you get past Rutherford,” Sutton said. OSU held only three leads at 7-5, 11-9 and 49-48. The last advantage was wiped out by J.R. Henderson’s jumper, and Edney followed by floating in a layup over Reeves.

“I try to get (shots) up there before they can react,” Edney grinned.

5-Game Flat has a way of putting a smile on his face.

UCLA 74, Oklahoma State 61

OKLAHOMA STATE (27-10)

Pierce 1-4 0-1 2, Collins 2-6 0-0 6, Reeves 8-16 9-9 25, Rutherford 4-13 3-4 15, Owens 1-4 0-0 3, Roberts 5-7 0-2 10, Skaer 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Baum 0-0 0-0 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Miles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 12-16 61

UCLA (30-2)

C.O’Bannon 7-9 5-5 19, E.O’Bannon 6-14 1-2 15, Zidek 2-4 2-2 6, Edney 6-12 9-11 21, Bailey 1-2 0-0 2, Dollar 1-1 7-8 9, Henderson 1-6 0-0 2, Dempsey 0-0 0-0 0, Nwankwo 0-0 0-0 0, Givens 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 24-28 74.

Halftime-Oklahoma St. 37, UCLA 37. 3-Point goals-Oklahoma St. 7-19 (Rutherford 4-11, Collins 2-3, Owens 1-3, Roberts 0-2), UCLA 2-7 (E.O’Bannon 2-4, Edney 0-1, Bailey 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out-Owens. Rebounds-Oklahoma St. 32 (Reeves 9), UCLA 25 (E.O’Bannon 8). Assists-Oklahoma St. 16 (Owens 9), UCLA 9 (Edney 5). Total fouls- Oklahoma St. 21, UCLA 16. A-NA.