The Associated Press

It wouldn’t have meant the first victory ever for Pepperdine at Pauley Pavilion.

Thursday, December 30, 1999

It wouldn’t have meant the first victory ever for Pepperdine at Pauley Pavilion. It would have meant a chance at one, though.

Craig Lewis’ putback at the buzzer was ruled too late, and No. 23 UCLA left its home court with a 68-66 victory over the Waves on Tuesday night.

Replays show that the rebound of a missed 3-pointer by David Lalazarian left Lewis’ hand in time, and there should have been at least five extra minutes of basketball.

”The first thing I looked at was the red light behind the basket,” Pepperdine coach Jan van Breda Kolff said. ”He shot the ball, it went through the net and the red light went off. I figured we were going into overtime, but I guess the officials saw it differently.”

Referee Andy Rios signaled ‘2,’ but referee Ruben Ramos ruled the shot was too late.

A furious Lalazarian, shouting all the way, chased Ramos off the court before being restrained.

”I thought it was good. It felt good,” Lewis said. ”I never looked at the clock, I never had time to.”

UCLA coach Steve Lavin was as diplomatic as possible.

”During the game, it’s hard to be objective, but when clear heads prevail, I will probably see it was before the buzzer,” Lavin said.

In other games involving ranked teams Tuesday it was No. 5 Arizona 66, North Carolina-Wilmington 51; No. 6 Florida 113, VMI 68; No. 8 Michigan State 96, Mississippi Valley State 63; No. 12 Indiana 79, Holy Cross 44; No. 18 Texas 85, Niagara 48; Oregon 67, No. 19 Wake Forest 66; No. 20 Illinois 97, Bethune-Cookman 47; No. 21 Utah 87, Oregon State 77; No. 24 DePaul 71, Memphis 65; and No. 25 Tulsa 81, Missouri-Kansas City 60.

Lost in the excitement over the final tip-in was that Jerome Moiso scored the final five points of the game for the Bruins (7-2).

Moiso, who finished with 15 points, tied the game at 65 with 1:28 left. After Lewis hit one of two free throws to put Pepperdine ahead by one, Moiso banked in the go-ahead basket and then added a free throw with 23 seconds left.

Dan Gadzuric added 13 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA.

Tezale Archie had 14 points for Pepperdine, which was playing UCLA for the first time since 1991. The Waves (8-4) have lost all eight of their games at Pauley Pavilion.

No. 5 Arizona 66, N.C.-Wilmington 51

Gilbert Arenas had 17 points and fellow freshman guard Jason Gardner scored all 12 of his in the second half as the Wildcats (10-2) improved their record in the Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic to 29-0. Arizona, which outscored the Seahawks 26-3 from the foul line, will play Delaware, a 76-66 winner over Alabama, for the title on Thursday. Oleg Kojenets had a season-high 14 points for the Seahawks (6-3).

No. 6 Florida 113, VMI 68

Freshman Brett Nelson was 7-for-7 from the field and had 19 points, five assists and an O’Connell Center-record seven steals as the Gators (10-1) won their eighth straight. Freshman Donnell Harvey had 22 points on 10-for-12 shooting and 10 rebounds for Florida, which led 63-35 at halftime. Richard Bruce had 13 points for the Keydets (5-7), who lost their fifth straight.

No. 8 Michigan St. 96, Mississippi Valley St. 63

Morris Peterson had 22 points for the Spartans (9-3), who scored the game’s first 16 points and shot 64.2 percent for the game. Dewayne Jefferson led the visiting Delta Devils (1-9) with 24 points.

No. 12 Indiana 79, Holy Cross 44

Kirk Haston scored 16 points as Indiana (10-1) won the Hoosier Classic for the 18th straight year. Josh Sankes had 17 points to lead the Crusaders (4-6), who trailed 36-11 at halftime.

No. 18 Texas 85, Niagara 48

Chris Mihm had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Longhorns (7-3), who held Niagara without a field goal for nearly 15 minutes in taking a 42-19 halftime lead. Terry Edwards led the visiting Purple Eagles (6-3) with 13 points.

Oregon 67, No. 19 Wake Forest 66

Alex Scales scored 26 points, including the game-winner, an off-balance 15-footer with 4.7 seconds left. The Ducks (7-1) will play Gonzaga, which beat Ohio University 83-55, in tonight’s semifinals. Robert O’Kelley, who gave the Demon Deacons (8-2) a 66-65 lead with 16 seconds to play, finished with 20 points.

No. 20 Illinois 97, Bethune-Cookman 47

Brian Cook and Marcus Griffin each scored 18 points to lead the Illini (7-3), who had 18 steals. Brent King had 12 points to lead the visiting Wildcats (2-7), who lost their seventh straight.

No. 21 Utah 87, Oregon St. 77

Hanno Mottola scored 29 points, including Utah’s first 12 of the game and eight straight after Oregon State closed to 65-57. The win was the seventh straight for the Utes (9-2) and 43rd in a row at home. Deaundra Turner had 24 points to lead the Beavers (7-3).

No. 24 DePaul 71, Memphis 65

Quentin Richardson had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the visiting Blue Demons (9-3) as both teams opened play in Conference USA. Kelly Wise had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers (6-7).

No. 25 Tulsa 81, Mo.-Kansas City 60

Greg Harrington had 17 points, including two 3-pointers in a 15-0 run to open the second half, as the Golden Hurricane (12-1) won their first game since joining the Top 25. Terrance Chapman had 11 points for the visiting Kangaroos (5-6).