Tonight’s game may be in Pauley Pavilion, but don’t
blame the Bruins if part of their focus lies some 2,500 miles to
the east.
That’s where Madison Square Garden is located in the heart
of New York City, exactly where the UCLA men’s basketball
team wants to spend its Thanksgiving week for a chance to compete
for the National Invitation Tournament Season Tip-Off
championship.
The only thing that can stop the Bruins from boarding that
nonstop cross-country flight, however, is Temple in tonight’s
second-round tournament match-up at Pauley Pavilion.
“It’s very important for this team to get to New
York,” said sophomore point guard Jordan Farmar earlier in
the month at Pac-10 Media Day.
“It would benefit a lot,” UCLA men’s
basketball coach Ben Howland said. “The opportunity to play
against two good teams once there is ultimately our
goal.”
The NIT Season Tip-Off is one of only a few season-opening
tournaments that carries with it invaluable national-television
exposure. For a team to get a glimpse of that airtime, however, it
has to get to New York, which the Bruins have only been able to do
once in three previous tournament appearances.
The last time UCLA competed in the preseason NIT was in 1996,
when a Bruin team coming off of a national championship lost
embarrassingly to Tulsa in the first round.
This year, all that needs to happen for No. 19 UCLA (1-0) to get
to the Big Apple is a victory over Temple (1-0) tonight, which will
be a much taller order than the Bruins’ walkthrough disposal
of New Mexico State in Tuesday’s first-round contest.
“Temple is a very difficult match-up for us,”
Howland said.
The Temple Owls, who are coming off of a 16-win season last
year, almost exclusively play a zone that forces their opponents to
make jump shots from the perimeter, which doesn’t exactly
cater to the Bruins’ strength.
In Temple’s first-round win on Tuesday, the Owls limited
Army to shooting only 29 percent from the field while helping their
coach, the legendary John Chaney, claim his 500th career
victory.
“He’s one of the best coaches of all time,”
Howland said. “They don’t turn the ball over.
They’re a very physical team and play very hard.
They’re just a tough match-up for us.”
None more glaring than at the guard positions. If the 6-foot-2
Farmar and 6-foot freshman Darren Collison are on the court
together like they were in UCLA’s season-opening win, they
will be asked to defend a bevy of strong, physical Temple guards,
all of whom but one are at least 6-4 or taller.
That group is highlighted by 6-foot-6 senior Mardy Collins, who
averaged nearly 18 points and six rebounds a game last season and
is, according to Howland, a shoo-in for the NBA.
“Collins is really special,” Howland said.
“He’ll be as good as any guard we see all year.
We’re definitely going to have to do a better job guarding
against the dribble. (Temple’s guards) are going to salivate
when they see the tape (of our first game).”
Though Howland laments he only has one day to prepare for a team
as good as Temple, he was nonetheless relieved after being informed
after Tuesday’s game that he’d only need a car to get
to tonight’s game, and not a plane ticket.
“We were really glad it’s here,” Howland
said.
The winner of tonight’s game will face the winner of the
second-round contest between No. 12 Memphis and No. 14 Alabama in
Wednesday’s semifinal at Madison Square Garden. The winner of
that game will most likely face No. 1 Duke in the
tournament’s final on Friday.