Oregon State
UCLA
Beavers Fall To UCLA, 67-40
January 25, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2001
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Jason Kapono and his UCLA teammates had to live with the disappointment of a dreadful second half against Arizona all week long.
By the time Oregon State arrived Thursday night, the Bruins were ready to vent their frustrations.
Kapono led the way, hitting 5-of-6 3-pointers on his way to 19 points as UCLA overwhelmed the Beavers 67-40 for its most lopsided victory of the season.
The Bruins (11-5, 5-1 Pac-10) rebounded five days after the 25-point loss at Arizona that ended their six-game winning streak. Kapono struggled in that game, scoring just four points and missing all six of his 3-pointers.
But against the Beavers, he had 11 points in the first half when the Bruins led by nine and both teams struggled with their shooting.
"I shot the ball well and you want to try and get back out there as quick as you can," Kapono said. "You have to live with the poor game all week and you've got to stay patient and not get down on yourself."
Injury-riddled Oregon State (8-10, 2-4), winless at Pauley Pavilion since 1988, dropped its fourth straight to the Bruins.
The Beavers were held to their fewest points this season. Their previous low was 49 against No. 1 Stanford on Jan. 11. They are 0-8 when trailing at halftime.
"They were a lot better than we were. They took advantage of our weaknesses," first-year Oregon State coach Ritchie McKay said. "Because of our lack of inside presence, we were going to knock down 3s and it didn't work out."
Dan Gadzuric dominated the start of the second half, scoring UCLA's first 10 points as part of a 16-5 run that put the Bruins ahead 43-23 with 14:05 remaining. Gadzuric finished with 14 points. Matt Barnes added 11 points.
"We couldn't get Gadzuric in foul trouble," McKay said.
Emonte Jernigan, who led the Beavers with 18 points, stopped the onslaught with a basket. But Kapono answered with another 3-pointer and UCLA scored the next two points for a 49-25 lead.
"We didn't play very well," Jernigan said. "Their full-court press wasn't a problem. We didn't play our style of basketball. There were shots we usually make."
The Beavers played a slowdown game, milking the shot clock to five seconds on nearly every possession. But they shot just 32 percent.
"It's tough to play this slowdown game," Kapono said. "There were times when there was boring stuff. You really didn't feel like there's a real flow. We just have to stay poised."
The Beavers lost a presence in the middle when Brian Jackson injured his left leg at 18:24 of the second half. He already was playing with a sprained left ankle suffered Saturday against Washington.
Oregon State center Jason Heide, who is averaging 13 points, played just 2 minutes because of sprains in both ankles.
UCLA's Earl Watson started the 113th consecutive game of his career despite a bruised lower back and hip that, along with foul trouble, contributed to his career-low 14 minutes in the Arizona loss. He had three points and five assists in 30 minutes.
"I didn't know I was going to play until 1 1/2 hours before the game," Watson said. "Once I put on a uniform, it's hard to keep me out of the game. I'm not in any pain and my back is still loose."
The Bruins' largest margin of victory this season was a 93-65 win over Villanova on Jan. 13.
