OAKLAND “”mdash; If earning a spot in the Elite Eight was the
main draw on Thursday night, how UCLA’s much-vaunted defense
matched up against the nation’s leading scorer in Adam
Morrison was certainly the undercard. One crumbled for the better
part of 37 minutes. The other crumbled on the court after the final
horn. Morrison’s 24-point performance, which included a vast
array of shots from just about everywhere on the court,
wasn’t enough to propel his Bulldogs into the Elite Eight.
This realization struck the Gonzaga junior immediately after the
game, when he instantly burst into tears and collapsed on the
court. “I hate losing, period,” said Morrison.
“In anything ““ especially basketball. I’m going
to let it hang out, and I did.” He was surprised, however,
that among the first people to help him up from off the floor
weren’t wearing Gonzaga uniforms. UCLA’s Arron Afflalo
and Ryan Hollins, in the middle of celebrating their
come-from-behind win, went over to Morrison to help up the player
who had caused them fits for the previous two hours. The gesture
wasn’t lost on Morrison. “At first I didn’t
realize who it was,” Morrison said. “That’s just
a sign of a great program and great people, as far as they’re
concerned. “They had enough guts as a man in their moment of
victory to pick someone up off the floor. If I could thank them I
would. That’s a sign of great people and great players.
That’s more than basketball.” While Afflalo said he
couldn’t imagine what Morrison was feeling, he didn’t
want to see a player of Morrison’s caliber leave the court
with his head down. “I’m a competitor; I want to win,
but I don’t want to see anyone hurt, especially a player like
Morrison,” Afflalo said. “He’s got a great career
ahead of him. He’s tough.” Afflalo, Cedric Bozeman, Luc
Richard Mbah a Moute, Jordan Farmar and Mike Roll, who all spent
time defending the mustached Morrison on Thursday night, certainly
would attest to that. The 6-foot-8 Morrison shot over, shot in
between, and powered through whoever was defending him on Thursday,
shooting 10-for-17 from the field en route to scoring a game-high
24 points. In the final three minutes, however, Morrison missed all
three of his shots and began to burst into tears with 1.9 seconds
remaining after Mbah a Moute stole the ball away from the
Bulldogs’ Derek Raivio with the Bruins leading 72-71. Yet,
considering how much time the Bruins spent watching videotape and
preparing for the Gonzaga junior, it still may not have been
enough. “He had a great game,” Mbah a Moute said.
“My teammates and I did a great job, and he still got his.
It’s tough to play a player like that.”
TIGERS TAKE TWO: UCLA will play Memphis in the
Elite Eight on Saturday for a ticket to the Final Four. The Tigers
made quick work of Bradley in an 80-64 win also at Oakland Arena on
Thursday. Memphis and the Bruins have already faced one another
this season, with the Tigers scoring an 88-80 victory over UCLA
back on Nov. 23 at the Preseason NIT Tip-off in New York City. Due
to that victory ““ the largest margin of victory against UCLA
this season ““ Memphis’ Joey Dorsey believes it gives
his team a slight advantage. "That’s going to give us great
confidence, so it’s definitely an advantage," Dorsey said.
“The guys won’t play uptight. We’ll be relaxed.
And what team can match up with us? We can hang with anyone.
We’re blowing teams out. We’re not the first No. 1 seed
to be knocked off. We’re just playing with a chip on our
shoulder.”
SPECIAL VISITOR: Following UCLA’s
come-from-behind victory on Thursday, former Bruin Ed O’Bannon
visited the locker room and congratulated his former team. He did
admit, however, that sitting in the stands for the ending of a
dramatic game was a much more stressful experience than when he was
a player. "I think watching it was a lot more nerve-racking because
you have no control," O’Bannon said. "Playing in it, you kind of
control your destiny. Watching it was a whole new experience."
O’Bannon’s 1994-1995 team, which claimed the NCAA
Tournament championship, also played in the Sweet 16 and Elite
Eight at Oakland Arena en route to the Final Four.
DRIBBLERS: NCAA selection committee chairman
Craig Littlepage was in attendance on Thursday. … UCLA went 8:43
without a field goal to start the game. … In the first half,
Gonzaga shot 57 percent, while the Bruins shot an abysmal 26
percent. … UCLA didn’t allow the Bulldogs to score for the
final 3:27, going on an 11-0 run to end the game. …
Gonzaga’s 71 points were the most UCLA allowed since ceding
71 to USC ““ the Bruins’ last loss. … UCLA’s
13-point halftime deficit was the second-largest margin a team has
overcome to win in the Sweet 16.