A late-season collapse cost UCLA a top seed in the tournament.
Now it’s up to the Bruins to show that they are the team that they were all season long ““ not the team that lost to Washington and California.
UCLA received the No. 2 seed in the West Regional on Sunday. The Bruins will host No. 15 Weber State ““ the school that UCLA coach Ben Howland played for in college ““ in the first round in Sacramento on Thursday.
“We just want to play to the best of our abilities,” sophomore point guard Darren Collison said. “All we can control is our own destiny on Thursday.”
While the Bruins may not have earned a No. 1 seed, they still accomplished their goal of staying in California throughout the road to the Final Four.
The Bruins will play the first two rounds of the tournament in Sacramento; should they advance to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, those games will be played in San Jose.
“We’ve talked about wanting to get an opportunity to play in California,” Howland said. “But at this point, our focus is solely on Weber State.”
After falling to California last Thursday, the Bruins began their attempt to recover from their lowest point of the season.
Many of the players said that Saturday’s practice was one of most demanding ones of the season and believe they are on the right track.
“A lot of the guys were stunned by the two losses,” junior center Lorenzo Mata said.
“We can’t let that happen again ““ we don’t want to have that feeling of losing and our season being over. If our season’s over, then it has to be over with a championship,” he added.
“You can’t let (the losses to California and Washington) take over your whole season,” junior guard Arron Afflalo said. “It ended on a bad note, but it’s about responding to that and bouncing back.”
UCLA’s bracket has some interesting story lines on the side. Not only is Howland coaching against his alma mater in the first round, but UCLA’s second-round game features a potential rematch of last year’s thrilling Sweet Sixteen victory over Gonzaga.
Gonzaga, a No. 10 seed, is facing seventh-seeded Indiana in Sacramento, and the winner will take on the victor of the UCLA-Weber State game.
Not only that, but if the seeds play out to form, the Bruins would be facing third-seeded Pittsburgh ““ the last team that Howland coached prior to coming to UCLA ““ in the Sweet Sixteen.
“CBS is paying a lot of money to telecast the NCAA Tournament,” Howland said. “So of course, if good TV is available and going to be more commanding of viewership, that’s what you’d expect to see.”
But for Howland and the Bruin players, any of the other side stories are secondary. For the next three days, UCLA’s only focus will be on defeating Weber State and advancing to the second round.
“Being a two-seed’s a little more difficult (than being a one-seed), but at the end of the day, anybody can beat anybody on a given night,” Howland said. “I’ve said that about our team from day one ““ that we have to show up and play our very best, and if we do, that we can beat anybody, but if we don’t do that, we can be beat by anybody.
“If we don’t take care of business Thursday night, it’s the end of the season.”
PAC-10 GETS SIX: Howland has said repeatedly throughout the season that he thought six Pac-10 teams would make the tournament this season. Sunday’s selection show proved him right.
UCLA, Arizona, USC, Washington State, Oregon and Stanford are all among the field of 65.
The only real bubble team from the conference was Stanford, who lost four out of its final five games, including a first-round Pac-10 Tournament game ouster against USC.
The Cardinal were the very last team announced of the 65 teams on Selection Sunday, earning a No. 11-seed in the South regional and a first-round game with No. 6-seed Louisville.
Meanwhile, Oregon, Washington State and USC all received very strong seeds in the field. The Ducks and the Cougars are No. 3 seeds in the Midwest and East regionals, respectively, while the Trojans earned the No. 5 seed in the East regional.
“Not only did we have a majority of the teams make it, but they were all seeded well, which I think speaks to the fact that the committee recognizes that the Pac-10 was an outstanding conference this year,” Howland said.
“Not only are we seeded well and well represented, but I’m under the belief that the Pac-10 teams are going to do well,” Howland added.