Thursday, March 13, 1997
M. HOOPS:
UCLA takes on Charleston Southern, seeded 15th, in first roundBy
Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
The quest for UCLA’s 12th national championship begins tonight,
as the seventh-ranked Bruins battle Charleston Southern in the
first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Palace at Auburn
Hills.
After recording nine consecutive victories, the Bruins (21-7)
have obtained the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region. The odds of
beating the 15th-seed Buccaneers (17-12) are looking pretty
good.
But UCLA players are refraining from looking beyond the first
round by reminding themselves of the humiliation of last season’s
loss to Princeton.
"We’re done overlooking people," sophomore center Jelani McCoy
said. "We’ve learned from our mistakes from Princeton last year, so
we’re concentrating game by game and trying to play hard."
The Buccaneers are led by senior Brett Larrick (19.6 points per
game). However, a considerable amount of Charleston Southern’s
offense is currently debilitated because point guard Errol
McPherson, who puts up 17.2 points and 5.3 assists per game, is out
with an ACL injury.
The team contends that McPherson may come back for the
tournament but considering the fact that he injured the knee only
four weeks ago, those chances are slim.
Still, the Buccaneers won the Big South tournament without
McPherson and that’s largely due to the sharp shooting of Larrick
and the point-guard skills of another Larrick. Brett’s younger
brother, Adam, is picking up the slack at the point.
"Just the fact that they shoot the three a lot  they
attempted 276 three pointers  (shows) they’re capable of
getting hot from out there," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.
"That can keep them in the game. And at this point, you’re
expecting the unexpected when you’re playing in the NCAA
Tournament. You don’t know what the team’s going to do. They can
change their style from one game to another.
"You really have to be more concerned with playing to your
potential. And that’s always been the case for us. If we don’t beat
ourselves, we become a very difficult team to beat."
By far the biggest win that Charleston Southern has recorded
this season is its 85-81 road win over South Carolina back in
December. Granted USC was struggling early with a 5-5 record, the
Gamecocks have since beaten Kentucky twice.
If UCLA wins tonight’s game, it will take on the winner of
seventh-seeded Xavier and 10th-seeded Vanderbilt on Saturday night
at approximately 7 p.m.
Xavier, which received its NCAA bid as an at-large team from the
Atlantic 10 conference, boasts an impressive 22-5 record and is
ranked 13th in the AP poll. The Musketeers are led by guards Lenny
Brown and Gary Lumpkin, who are both All-Atlantic 10 performers.
Brown and Lumpkin combine to average 31.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and
8.4 assists per game.
Unranked Vanderbilt (19-11) came from the Southeastern
Conference, also as an at-large bid. The Commodores’ big wins this
season include victories over Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi
State. Vandy has a balanced attack  with four players
averaging double figures in scoring  and also has good depth,
with five bench players contributing significant minutes.