It got to a point on Saturday where Darren Collison simply could
not contain himself any longer. With UCLA leading Michigan 62-34 in
the second half in front of a national television audience and a
loud, packed crowd in Pauley Pavilion, Collison darted toward the
UCLA student section as timeout was called and began to revel in
the crowd’s enthusiasm. The sophomore guard shouted and waved his
arms and an already-animated crowd responded with even more noise.
"Man, I was just in the moment right there," Collison said. "It’s
something you always think about ““ in the summer, you get
lonely at times and start thinking about the fans and just the play
of basketball and you say when you get in that moment, you’re just
going to be in that moment. That was a great feeling today." The
Bruins’ victory against the Wolverines had a much different feel
than any other game in Pauley Pavilion yet this season. The 11,876
people that showed up constituted by far the fullest and loudest
crowd of the season, which was in stark contrast to the Bruins’
previous five home games. Against Sam Houston State on Tuesday,
just 7,458 fans showed up and a baby could have slept peacefully
amid the unenthusiastic crowd. "All week, y’all have been talking
about the fans when they don’t show up," Collison said. "Today was
a different story. Our goal is to win games and our goal was made
much easier to win because of the crowd." "I thought our crowd was
terrific today," coach Ben Howland said. "I think they really fired
our players up. "I love these morning games. You get to miss the
405 traffic; you get to get here early – it’s 1:00 (when the game
ends), and you can still do some shopping."
DRAGOVIC DEBUTS: Freshman forward Nikola
Dragovic made his long-awaited debut against Michigan after serving
the duration of his 10-game suspension. Dragovic entered the game
with six minutes remaining and hit one of his three 3-point
attempts. The forward received a loud ovation from the crowd after
making his shot. "He did a good job for the minutes he got,"
Howland said.
BENCH CONTRIBUTES: Just to add to the list of
positives for UCLA, the starters received plenty of support from
their substitutes. Sophomore guard Michael Roll came off the bench
and hit three of his five shots, scoring eight points. Sophomore
center Alfred Aboya and sophomore forward/center Ryan Wright both
played stout defense against Courtney Sims and Michigan’s post
players in their 10 minutes. Most notably, freshman forward James
Keefe played the finest game of his young UCLA career, leading the
team with five rebounds and two blocks, while contributing four
points in his nine minutes.