No Contest For Bruins

West Region

UCLA’s Jim Harrick laid out the snares all over the Coliseum Arena, in plain view.

Mississippi State walked into first one and then another until there was little else for the Bulldogs to do but chew off a limb and limp back to Starkville.

The Bruins even eased up at the end of an 86-67 victory Thursday that sends them into the NCAA West Regional championship game Saturday afternoon against Connecticut. They’ll be playing for their first trip to the Final Four since 1980.

“We took them out of everything they wanted to do,” Harrick said. “The first 30 minutes were as good as you want to play. That performance will get you a lot of wins.”

First, the Bruins laid a blanket around Erick Dampier, Mississippi State’s 6-foot-11 sophomore center. Whenever Dampier received a pass, he was pushed from behind by UCLA’s 7-foot George Zidek and met at each side by an additional Bruins defender.

That left the Mississippi State guards open, but they clanked the first 14 3-point shots they attempted. The Bulldogs were so inept on offense that Marcus Grant was named Mississippi State’s player of the game by CBS television, although he scored only two points.

The Bruins also took an offensive approach to removing Dampier from the game. Zidek attempted three of UCLA’s first four shots, but his hook drew no contact. Tyus Edney did, however. In the opening 5 minutes, Edney twice drove right at Dampier. Both times, he defied Dampier’s 13-inch advantage, drawing Dampier fouls and scoring scooping layups each time.

Dampier was so frustrated after the second foul, he slammed the ball to the floor and it bounced about 20 feet in the air. “He likes to contest most shots in there,” Edney said. “We tried to make him contest them as much as possible and draw some fouls.”

UCLA’s strategic onslaught didn’t end there. Ed O’Bannon came back after taking a breather and replaced Zidek with about 9 minutes left in the first half, and the Bulldogs trailing only 18-13. That gave the Bruins a small lineup that put O’Bannon (6-8) at center. Mississippi State coach Richard Williams immediately switched to a zone. O’Bannon, who wound up with 21 points, quickly countered with a pair of 3-pointers.

“When they go with a smaller lineup and put O’Bannon at (center), there’s no way Erick can guard him in the perimeter,” Williams said. “We went into the game knowing we’d have to play zone in that lineup. We knew he might hurt us, also.”

From then on, the Bruins were off and running.

UCLA 86, Mississippi State 67

MISSISSIPPI STATE (22-8)

Grant 1-8 0-0 2, Price 3-5 0-0 6, Dampier 4-4 3-4 11, D.Wilson 7-21 3-5 22, Honore 2-10 0-0 6, Walters 3-5 4-6 10, Bullard 3-9 2-2 10, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0, B.Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 12-17 67.

UCLA (28-2)

C.O’Bannon 3-7 3-4 9, E.O’Bannon 8-14 2-3 21, Zidek 5-11 1-4 11, Edney 4-6 1-2 10, Bailey 3-11 6-9 12, Dollar 0-1 2-6 2, Henderson 2-3 4-5 8, Johnson 1-2 3-6 5, Nwankwo 0-1 4-4 4, Givens 2-2 0-0 4, Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Dempsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 26-43 86.

Halftime-UCLA 40, Mississippi St. 19. 3-Point goals-Mississippi St. 9-32 (D.Wilson 5-14, Bullard 2-6, Honore 2-7, Grant 0-5), UCLA 4-11 (E.O’Bannon 3-6, Edney 1-2, C.O’Bannon 0-1, Bailey 0-2). Fouled out-Dampier. Rebounds-Mississippi St. 41 (Grant 10), UCLA 39 (E.O’Bannon 8). Assists- Mississippi St. 18 (Honore 5), UCLA 18 (Edney 8). Total fouls-Mississippi St. 25, UCLA 18. A-14,399.

UConn 99, Maryland 89

Donny Marshall had 27 points in a chest-bumping, fist-pumping display that led the Huskies to a comfortable victory over the Terrapins.

Marshall, who mixed feathery 3-pointers with bruising layups off offensive rebounds, set the emotional tone for the Huskies by diving for loose balls and jumping over the press table trying to save a ball.

A late surge pulled Maryland within nine with 3:10 left. But Travis Knight had two dunks and two free throws for UConn.

MARYLAND (26-8)

Hipp 5-11 2-4 13, Booth 4-9 2-3 10, Smith 10-17 2-2 22, Simpkins 4-11 0-0 9, Rhodes 9-18 2-3 22, Lucas 3-7 1-2 7, Bristol 1-4 0-0 2, Kovarik 0-0 0-0 0, Elliott 0-1 0-0 0, Raydo 1-2 0-0 2, Shultz 1-1 0-0 2, Judd 0-1 0-0 0, Jasikevicius 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 38-83 9-14 89.

CONNECTICUT (28-4)

Marshall 11-22 2-4 27, Allen 8-16 0-2 18, Knight 6-7 3-4 15, Sheffer 3-7 6-6 12, Ollie 2-7 5-6 9, Hayward 4-4 4-7 12, Fair 1-7 1-4 4, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, King 1-2 0-0 2, Willingham 0-0 0-0 0, CohenMintz 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-74 21-33 99.

Halftime-Connecticut 49, Maryland 41. 3-Point goals-Maryland 4-20 (Rhodes 2-5, Hipp 1-1, Simpkins 1-5, Booth 0-2, Bristol 0-2, Judd 0-2, Lucas 0-3), Connecticut 6-14 (Marshall 3-3, Allen 2-6, Fair 1-2, Sheffer 0-1, Ollie 0-2). Fouled out-Knight, Hipp. Rebounds-Maryland 49 (Smith 14), Connecticut 43 (Allen 11). Assists-Maryland 22 (Simpkins, Rhodes 5), Connecticut 22 (Sheffer 7). Total fouls-Maryland 24, Connecticut 25. A-14,399.