20 Years Later: Reliving The 1994-95 UCLA Basketball Championship Season

It has been nearly 20 years since the 1994-95 UCLA Basketball program last won a national championship. It was an epic year too as the Ed O’Bannon-led Bruins nearly went undefeated that season en route to one of the more memorable post-seasons in NCAA Tournament history. It was the first championship in 20 years since legendary coach John R. Wooden won his tenth and final one in his last season. With all that the UCLA basketball program has had to live up to following Wooden, they were once again able to raise a banner up to the rafters of Pauley Pavilion. Their 11th to be exact.

The Lead-Up To Greatness

UCLA Bruins

There was something special about the 1994-95 UCLA Bruins. You could feel it before the season started. The Bruins were coming in with the talents of seniors Ed O’Bannon, George Zidek and Tyus Edney. They also had some damn fine talent from underclassmen Charles O’Bannon, Cameron Dollar, J.R. Hnederson and Toby Bailey. Oh yeah, they also had eventual Coach of the Year Jim Harrick leading the charge, so the pieces were in place for something special.

UCLA had started their season on November 26, 1994 at Pauley Pavilion with an 83-60 victory over Cal State Northridge. Though they began their schedule with an easy victory in the non-conference, it was not going to stay that way for long.

In their second game on December 3, #2 UCLA had taken on #7 Kentucky in the John R. Wooden Classic in Anaheim, California. It was an incredible battle from start to finish but the Bruins were able to edge the Wildcats 82-81. It would be the last game the Bruins would lose by less than 8 points to a non-conference team. That specific feat came 20 days after beating Kentucky, when the Bruins took out North Carolina 88-80.

Conference Play

UCLA went 6-0 before they started conference play and even though the Bruins were #2 in the country, it could not stop them from suffering their only loss of the season in their first conference game. UCLA had taken a tough defeat at McArthur Court against the Oregon Ducks with an 82-72 heartbreaker. If anything, it was a wake-up call as it was the first and only game that ended up in the “L” column for UCLA that year. What the next next was extraordinary.

The Bruins had run through every remaining team on their regular season schedule which included:

• 92-55 win over Notre Dame
• 100-77 win over Duke
• Twice beating ranked Arizona, Arizona State and Stanford in a row
• 91-73 victory at Louisville

And to top it off, in the final game of the regular season, the Bruins got back at #25 Oregon on March 11, 1995 with a 94-78 mauling at Pauley Pavilion. Since their loss up in Eugene, the Bruins won 20 games straight.

And they were not done yet.

The NCAA Tournament

The Bruins took their 26-1 record and their  #1 ranking into the post-season, which gave them an edge throughout the NCAA tournament as far as location was concerned because they did not have to leave the west coast. Though battling through each round was a different story.

UCLA had manhandled Florida International 92-56 in the first round in Boise, Idaho. Their next game proved to be a bit more difficult. Though the Bruins conquered #23 Missouri, UCLA could have easily suffered their second loss of the season. It took an amazing final effort by Tyus Edney to keep the Bruins hopes alive and all it took was 4.8 seconds. Take a look…

Amazing.

The Bruins kept rolling as they headed to the West Regional Semi-Finals and Final in Oakland, California. They took out #18 Mississippi State and heavily favored #8 Connecticut to head to the Final Four at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. A 74-61 victory over #14 Oklahoma State set up the final showdown with a determined Arkansas team.

But it was not to be for the Razorbacks as Ed O’Bannon led the Bruins to a 89-78 victory with 30 points and 17 rebounds. If you are so inclined, here is the game in its entirety. Skip to the end to relive the celebration because we all know what happens.

As Sports Illustrated dubbed it, it was the Bruin’s “Return To Glory”. The most decorated program in NCAA history added one more Championship to their illustrious history, making it 11 total and still to this day, the most in NCAA history.