J.R. Sits, Then Hits for UCLA

By TIM KAWAKAMI

Jan. 24, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

UCLA staggered early and staggered late, and almost fell all the way down.

But, with a mix of blind luck and J.R. Henderson’s desire to respond to discipline, the Bruins kept finding ways to regain their balance against USC on Thursday night.

In a battle to the wire, the Bruins fought off the Trojans’ last, desperate rush and pulled out one of the Pacific 10 Conference’s most impressive road victories, 96-87, before 12,843 at the Sports Arena.

The victory kept UCLA in first place in the conference, with a 6-1 record (2-1 on the road), and an 11-4 overall mark. The Trojans, vying for the top spot, fell to 9-6 and 4-3, and suffered their first conference loss at home.

It was Henderson, who sat out the first 5:18 after arguing with interim Coach Steve Lavin on Wednesday, who dominated the Trojans on the blocks, scored a game-high 24 points and triggered the Bruins’ 58-point second-half spree.

“Twenty-four off the bench, that’s really pretty remarkable,” said Bruin swingman Kris Johnson, who made two crucial baskets in the final five minutes, both times with the shot clock near zero. “He brought it tonight, he really was a man against boys in there.”

Henderson’s line Thursday: nine of 10 shooting, 11 rebounds, two assists, one block, one steal, and a one-hour meeting with Lavin earlier in the day to clear the air.

“He’s mature, and he handled it,” Lavin said of the benching, Henderson’s third for disciplinary reasons this season. “We had a good long talk today, and I gave him a big hug at the end of the talk.”

Said Henderson, who had season highs in points and rebounds: “I felt I had a lot of time to make up for, that’s how I motivate myself. [The talk] went real smooth, we both acted like adults and we talked about what I can do to get better at what he wants me to do in practice and what he can do to coach me better.”

Charles O’Bannon had his fourth consecutive solid game, giving UCLA 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Henderson missed six of his 12 free-throw attempts, and UCLA, which shot 67.3% from the field, made only 26 of its 45 foul shots.

“It’s tough to beat a team that’s shooting 20 more free throws than you,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “Our plan was to attack the zone; we never did.”

In the crucial moments of the blistering second half, the Trojans closed an 18-point deficit (59-41, with 12:53 left to play) to five (81-76, with 4:19 to play) with a frenetic rush of defense and offense from Stais Boseman (21 points) and Rodrick Rhodes (15).

Gary Williams added 16 points for the Trojans.

In the second half, Boseman’s second steal of the game gave him 180 in his career, giving him the all-time Trojan steal mark.

But twice, with the noise rising and USC flying around the floor, Johnson converted in the teeth of the defense--once, while falling down, with a two-foot flip off the glass at the shot-clock buzzer, and once, face-up against Ken Sims, burying a three-point shot from the left wing.

“That first shot, that was pretty much luck,” Johnson said.

The second Johnson score gave UCLA an 83-76 lead with 3:10 left, and the Bruins made eight of 10 free throws down the stretch to maintain the lead.

“Those were big shots,” Henderson said of Johnson, who ended up with 19 points. “We’ve been making big shots all season.”

Henderson, perhaps UCLA’s most essential player, was replaced in the starting lineup by senior Bob Myers.

But Henderson got into the game at the 14:42 mark, replacing Johnson after Johnson drew a technical foul in a shoving match with Williams.

USC scored 10 consecutive points early to go up, 13-5, on the strength of three three-point baskets (in four attempts) by Boseman, who had 13 points in the half, and sloppy Bruin offensive play, which led to seven consecutive scoreless possessions.

But the Bruins’ wild ways stopped there, and USC’s impatience on offense started to cause major trouble.

After the Trojans took a 19-10 lead with 9:36 to play in the first half, USC started firing wildly, and the Bruins put together a 20-5 run to pull out to a 30-24 lead, with Johnson back off the bench and pouring in 10 points in the half.

The Trojans got within four, 36-32, but Rhodes missed a wild shot with four seconds left in the half, and UCLA’s Jelani McCoy beat Rhodes to the ball downcourt for a layup at the buzzer and a six-point Bruin lead.

UCLA could have had a far bigger lead, but made only seven of its 17 free throw in the period.

“You can’t win if you wait to play until the second half,” Bibby said.