Jan. 22, 2000
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jason Kapono put his white headband back on and in doing so got his head on straight.
The freshman scored a career-high 24 points and reserve Matt Barnes added a career-high 17 as No. 25 UCLA held on to beat Arizona State 83-77 Saturday.
The win salvaged the week for the inconsistent Bruins, who lost 76-61 to No. 2 Arizona on Thursday night. They shot just four free throws and were 3-of-21 on 3-pointers in that game. Saturday, they hit 18 of 26 free throws and made 7 of 12 from long-range.
"This was big for us. It would've been tough to lose two at home," said Kapono, who favors the headband after a poor performance even though his short hair doesn't need it.
He had 10 points and 10 of his team's 26 turnovers against Arizona.
"Thursday I struggled and it got to my head," he said. "Today I figured I'm going to play hard throughout."
The Bruins (11-5, 2-3 Pac-10) trailed most of the second half until Kapono followed a 3-pointer by Ray Young with one of his own to tie the game at 65 with 7:58 remaining.
Barnes hit a 3-pointer to put the Bruins up 75-69, but the Sun Devils answered with consecutive 3s by Chad Prewitt and Tanner Shell to draw within one with 50 seconds left.
Barnes missed a dunk, but Young grabbed the rebound and then Eddie House fouled Kapono, who made both free throws with 20 seconds left for an 80-77 lead.
Alton Mason missed a 3-point attempt and Prewitt intentionally fouled Earl Watson for his fifth foul. Watson made the second of two free throws for an 81-77 lead with eight seconds left.
The Bruins got possession and Jerome Moiso, who had 22 points for UCLA, was fouled. He made both for the game's final points with seven seconds left.
Moiso had seven rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots, which helped the Bruins to a season-high 11 blocks.
"We were struggling, so this was really a big game," said Barnes, who helped UCLA's reserves outscore Arizona State's bench 32-17. "It gives us more confidence, but we usually win one game and lose one. We've got to be more consistent."
Awvee Storey, a 22-year-old sophomore, led Arizona State with 21 points.
The Sun Devils left Los Angeles having been swept, including a 95-92 overtime loss at Southern California on Thursday night.
"We never defended," coach Rob Evans said. "We haven't defended in the past five or six games. Our defense isn't solid enough to win on the road right now."
House, who came in averaging 30.4 points in Pac-10 play, finished with 18 as the Sun Devils (11-6, 3-3) lost their 22nd consecutive game to the Bruins. They haven't won at Pauley Pavilion in nearly 13 years and haven't beaten UCLA since 1989.
"If we had played as hard like we were capable of defensively, we'd have won this game. It wouldn't even have come down to the last few minutes," House said. "We gave up too many transition baskets and offensive boards. We've been playing harder in practice than in the game. That has to change."
House scored the Sun Devils' first 12 points of the game on 3-pointers, but he was held in check by Watson in the second half when House had just five. Watson took just one shot in the game while focusing all his efforts on House.
"We made him work really hard for his shots," Watson said.
With Arizona State trailing 72-69, House missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Barnes came down to hit a 3-pointer for UCLA.
The Bruins outscored Arizona State 18-12 over the final 7:10, including making 8 of 10 free throws.