The Bruins’ 2005 postseason didn’t go quite as they
had envisioned it. A loss to Oregon State in the first round of the
Pac-10 Tournament, a loss to Texas Tech in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament, and that was that. Thanks for playing; come back
next year. “It was a hurtful experience for me, and I
don’t really forget a whole lot of basketball
memories,” sophomore guard Arron Afflalo said.
“Especially ones that really disappointed me.”
It’s an awful taste that’s been lingering for quite a
while, and now the chance for redemption has arrived. With the No.
13 Bruins (24-6, 14-4 Pac-10) set to open postseason play today
when they face Oregon State in the second round of the Pac-10
Tournament, they’ll be hoping things have changed. And based
on the regular season, they probably have. The conference champions
and first-seeded Bruins have won four straight games, including two
of the team’s best wins in recent memory, with a sweep of
California and Stanford last weekend. In the team’s 75-54
drubbing of Stanford last Saturday, the team’s growth was
abundantly apparent. “Our team is so much better than we were
a year ago,” coach Ben Howland said. “It’s just
not even close. It’s a night and day deal.” But that
was then, and this is now, and tournament play is a whole different
monster. One loss, and the Pac-10 Tournament ends. Another loss in
the NCAA Tournament, and the long off-season wait begins. “We
want to win the tournament,” Howland said. “We want to
go in and win this thing. We won the regular season, but it’s
all about what have you done for me lately. You’ve got to
prove it all over again, and that’s our goal.” For a
number of teams, the Pac-10 Tournament provides one last chance to
salvage a season and make the NCAA Tournament with an automatic
bid. For the Bruins, an appearance in the NCAA Tournament is
essentially guaranteed. Now they’re playing for more. Howland
said if the Bruins were to win the Pac-10 Tournament, he expects
the team to be no lower than a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament,
and as high as a No. 2 seed. Before there can be any postseason
speculation for UCLA comes Oregon State (13-17, 5-13). The
ninth-seeded Beavers are coming off a 71-68 win over the
eighth-seeded Sun Devils in the first round of the Pac-10
Tournament while the Bruins had a bye. Today’s game figures
to be an uphill battle for the Beavers, who have only seven players
active for the game due to various injuries. “I want to play
with a running time,” Oregon State coach Jay John said.
“It’s a very hard matchup for us.” When asked if
his team will be prepared to play a surging Bruin club after a
draining win over the Arizona State with a depleted roster, John
had a coy answer. “Well, game time says 2:30 so we’ll
be there.” And, as the conference champions, the Bruins will
undoubtedly have bull’s-eyes on their backs. UCLA swept the
season series with all of the teams on its side of the bracket,
meaning the Bruins wouldn’t face a team they have lost to
until the conference championship. “We’ve been in first
place, where everybody’s been gunning for us,”
sophomore point guard Jordan Farmar said. “We’ve had
the best games from the last place team in the conference to
crosstown rivals to whatever. We’ve always had every
team’s best shot, and I think that’s really helped
us,” Farmar said. “And it will continue to help us down
the stretch.” As far as the tournament goes, Howland
doesn’t expect many surprises. After 18 conference games,
teams have established a real sense of familiarity.
“Everybody in our league knows each other really well,”
Howland said. “You are who you are. We’re not going to
come out in a zone on Thursday. It’s no secret.”
Today’s game will also provide the first taste of postseason
play to UCLA’s five freshmen. “It’s going to be
tough, but at the same time it’s going to be exciting,”
said Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. As for
last year’s freshmen, today is step one of the chances
they’ve been waiting for ““ a chance to get rid of that
awful taste.
CUIC OUT: Oregon State forward Sasa Cuic
suffered a high right ankle sprain four minutes into his
team’s game against Arizona State and will not play today.
Cuic led the Beavers in scoring this year with 13.9 points per
game.
BENNETT’S FAREWELL: Oregon defeated
Washington State 66-55 in the final game ever coached by Washington
State coach Dick Bennett.
ONE LESS BUMP IN THE ROAD: Arizona, who plays
Stanford in the second round tonight, will be without leading
scorer Hassan Adams for the entirety of the conference tournament.
Adams was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving over the weekend
and was suspended by Wildcat coach Lute Olson. “I think that
they’re still going to be tough to beat, and I feel for
him,” Howland said, adding that he’s glad Adams will be
back for the NCAA Tournament.