PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Billy
Knight plays solid defense against a Utah State opponent
in the second round of NCAA tournament play in Greensboro, N.C.
Saturday afternoon.
By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Defending their coach from the daily scrutiny
pressed upon him for holding the top spot of the UCLA men’s
basketball program, the Bruins put together another defensive gem
Saturday for tournament win No. 2. UCLA will now advance to its
third consecutive Sweet Sixteen – the fourth in five years.
Behind a game-high 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting from sophomore
Jason Kapono, UCLA (23-8) handcuffed Utah State (28-6) and threw
away the key in a 75-50 victory in the second round of the 2001
NCAA Tournament. The Bruins advance to the East Regional semifinal
this Thursday against top-seeded Duke, the nation’s No. 1 ranked
team in the final regular season Top 25 rankings.
"I am proud of our team’s determination defensively," UCLA Head
Coach Steve Lavin said. "They put together a string of shutouts and
stops tonight that were the key to the game."
 PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Earl
Watson flies over Bernard Rock (far
right) and Dan Stewart to pass the ball. For the
Sons of Westwood, practice made perfect during the first weekend of
this year’s March Madness. After surrendering only 48 points to
Hofstra two days earlier, UCLA allowed 50 to the Aggies. This marks
the first time since the 1981-92 campaign that UCLA has held more
than one opponent to 50 points or lower.
"After we lost to Washington we knew that we needed to stress
defense," said UCLA senior point guard Earl Watson, who made his
128th consecutive start on Saturday. "The first practice after we
came back, we spent the whole practice working on defense – the
whole three hours."
The Bruins held Utah State to 18 percent from the field in the
game’s first 20 minutes and a 28 percent clip for the contest.
Guard Tony Brown and center Dimitri Jorssen, the Aggies’ two
scoring threats who enabled them to move past Ohio State on
Thursday, found the rims unkind on Saturday, combining for a total
of 12 points on 4-for-24 shooting.
 PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Dan
Gadzuric doesn’t let Jeremy
Vague’s block stop him from scoring another two
points Saturday.
"It’s tough to win a basketball game when you miss 22 shots in a
row," Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said afterward. "It was
one of those nights that we couldn’t make any shots. And when you
are shooting as poorly as we were, it’s hard to catch up."
UCLA started the contest without Kapono and junior forward Matt
Barnes in the lineup. Lavin decided Friday to sit both as a
displinary action after both missed part of a scheduled study hall
session.
Utah State moved up early with a pair of Shawn Daniels buckets
and a Tony Brown three-pointer to give the Aggies a brief 9-6
advantage in the game’s first three and a half minutes.
But the Bruins put together a string of 15, capped by a Watson
alley-oop jam off an inbounds pass with 6:38 remaining in the first
half.
Leading 21-9, UCLA continued to shoot well, shooting 45 percent
in the first frame and shooting 55 percent for the game. Much of
that had to do with the strong inside play of junior center Dan
Gadzuric, who finished with four blocks and a a double-double of 14
recounds and 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field.
PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Shawn
Daniels (#42) swipes uselessly at the ball as Dan
Gadzuric gets control it. "When he’s in the game and out
of foul trouble, he’s as dominant a post presence as there is in
the country," Lavin said. "I know that when he is in the back of
our press, he anchors things defensively. He finishes off the
defensive possession because he cleans up the boards."
With a 30-19 lead coming out of halftime, the Bruins found
themselves in a more open game, with Utah State straying away from
its methodical, slow-paced game plan to get easier baskets. But
this theory was a failure, allowing UCLA to better implement their
full-court press.
With eight minutes left in the second half, the Aggies cut the
deficit to 36-32 on a Daniels driving bank layup, but a Kapono
three-pointer from the left wing began to close the door on Utah
State’s tournament run. A 25-8 stretch for the Bruins over the next
seven minutes ended with a Gadzuric two-hand jam.
UCLA never looked back.
"Our press was able to get us turnovers," said Watson, who had
16 points and nine rebounds. "That got us easy baskets. We used
that as a springboard to get us the momentum of the game."
UCLA outrebounded Utah State 47-31, and owned a 44-24 point
advantage in the paint. Against the Blue Devils Thursday in
Philadelphia the Bruins will look for more of the same and give
increased attention to Duke’s outside shooting and tempo. They
especially have to focus on the man many believe is college
basketball’s most well-oiled machine – sophomore point guard Jason
Williams.
This Thursday the Bruins won’t find any compassion in the City
of Brotherly Love. By getting to the Sweet Sixteen, though, one
thing is for sure – amid all the controversy and struggles, the
Bruins have proven that they have nothing to defend anymore. Except
maybe the opposition.
PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Earl
Watson and Matt Barnes attempt to gain
possession of the ball from Utah State’s Dimitri
Jorssen. PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff The
Bruins celebrate on the sidelines of Greensboro Colisseum as they
crush the Aggies 75-50 Saturday afternoon.