UCLA
Arizona
Bruins Fall at No. 13 Arizona
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 1999
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - On the day Jason Terry was named Pac-10 player of the year, he showed everyone why he deserved it.
In his farewell homecourt appearance, the Arizona point guard scored 26 points, 18 in the first half, as the 13th-ranked Wildcats routed UCLA 87-70 Saturday, a game that decided second place in the conference.
Terry hit his last jumper with 1:07 to play, then took a bow and blew kisses to the capacity crowd as he left the game with 50.9 seconds to play.
"This is my last hurrah," he said. "I was just giving the fans the appreciation they deserve."
A.J. Bramlett, also in his final game McKale Center, added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Ruben Douglas scored 15 as the Wildcats (22-6, 13-5 Pac-10) won their 32nd in a row at home.
"This was the best way I can think of to go out at the end of my career," Bramlett said.
For the first time since 1986, Arizona or UCLA did not win at least a share of the Pac-10 title, but that didn't make this game any less intense, especially in a memorable one-on-one showdown between Terry and the Bruins' Baron Davis in the first half.
Davis scored 21 even though he played nearly all of the second half with four fouls. Davis, who has indicated he will likely go to the NBA after this season, was helped from the court after aggravating an injury to the middle toe of his right foot with 1:53 to play.
X-rays show the injury was a sprain, and he's expected to be ready for NCAA tournament play.
The Wildcats' victory could be crucial when Sunday's seeding is announced.
"I think we showed the NCAA we deserved a high seed," Terry said. "How high? I don't know."
Arizona coach Lute Olson had speculated that the game's winner deserved a No. 3 seed. The coach said Terry's Pac-10 honor was a foregone conclusion.
"There wasn't even anybody else who deserved consideration as far as I'm concerned," Olson said.
Earl Watson scored 18 and JaRon Rush 16 for the Bruins (22-8, 12-6), who trailed by 16 at the half and never got closer than 10 after that.
UCLA beat Arizona 82-75 Jan. 2 in their Pac-10 opener, but the Bruins had center Dan Gadzuric then. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice 10 days ago.
The Bruins gave themselves a miserable review.
"Arizona played great today and we played terrible," Rico Hines said. "We basically didn't execute on offense or defense. As far as the tournament goes, they could put us in China for all I care."
Unlike Arizona, UCLA isn't going into tournament play with any momentum.
"We are as thin right now as we have been all year," UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. "We hope the guys we do have will produce. We are at a point right now in the season that we need to execute better in every aspect of the game."
Even though it was Terry's last home game, Olson sat him down and lectured him about mouthing off to the opposition after the Arizona star was called for a technical foul.
"I was doing some jawin' and that's not usually what I do," Terry said. "Coach settled me down after I got the technical."
Terry scored nine of Arizona's last 10 points of the half as the Wildcats blew open a 52-36 lead. Arizona outscored the Bruins 20-5 the last 5:24 before the break.
Terry's 3-pointer to start the second half boosted the lead to 19 but UCLA came back with a 7-0 run to cut it to 55-43 and was down 62-52 after Davis stole the ball from Terry and made a layup with 12:40 to play.
Douglas' 3-pointer and breakaway stuff boosted it back to 67-52, and UCLA couldn't get closer than 13 again.
Davis made three 3-pointers in first 10 1/2 minutes, the last one giving the Bruins a 25-20 lead with 9:29 left in the half.
Rick Anderson came off the bench to ignite a 12-0 run that put the Wildcats up 44-31 on Terry's driving bank shot with 2:57 to go before halftime.
In the one-sided first half, the Wildcats outrebounded UCLA 22-9 and were 7-for-9 from the field, Terry going 3-for-3 and Anderson 2-for-2.
