It was in their game plan all along.
Three seasons since he was hired to replace former coach Steve
Lavin, UCLA coach Ben Howland, along with UCLA athletic director
Dan Guerrero, had a vision for the men’s basketball
program.
Regular season champions. Check.
Pac-10 Tournament champions. Check.
After a thorough drubbing of their opponents, which included a
71-52 victory over Cal in the conference championship game
Saturday, the Bruins have now captured their second Pac-10
Tournament title ever, the first coming in the 1986-1987
season.
Asked if the turnaround was faster than he anticipated, Howland
beamed with confidence.
“No. We’re right on schedule,” he said.
The UCLA men’s program (27-6) joins the women’s
team, who captured its conference tournament championship with a
win over Stanford earlier in March. Both teams earned automatic
bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Similar to the seniors on the women’s roster, players like
Ryan Hollins and Cedric Bozeman have reveled in the moment.
Long after the celebration in front of the third-largest
conference tournament crowd of 18,544 at Staples Center (a group of
predominantly Bruin fans), Bozeman still had the net he cut down
from one of the baskets hanging limply from his neck. Hollins still
cradled the translucent championship trophy in his lanky arms.
It’s been quite the ride for both players. They each had
to battle through their respective roadblocks, but they are now
champions.
“Man, I’m going to enjoy this a lot,” said
Bozeman, who was relaxing on the trainer’s table with ice
packs on his left ankle and right knee.
“Can’t explain it. It couldn’t come at a
better time. It’s a great feeling,” Hollins said.
“Oh man, we were going crazy in here and out on that court.
It’s an emotional time, especially for the seniors.
“Hopefully we’ll be (cutting down nets) later
on.”
And the way UCLA coasted through this tournament, onlookers can
see why this team believes it has a shot of making some serious
noise in the NCAA Tournament.
Even though five different Pac-10 teams have captured the
tournament in as many years, the Bruins fashioned their win unlike
the rest.
They downright outplayed their opponents.
UCLA won each of its three games by an average of 19 points.
They led Oregon State by as much as 34 points, Arizona by 22 and
Cal by 19. In the entire tournament, UCLA trailed its opponent for
only five minutes and 21 seconds.
“This was a statement weekend,” said freshman guard
Darren Collison, who still wore one of the nets around his neck
well after the game. “Normally, when we’re close to the
top 10, we lose focus and concentration, and we lose to teams we
shouldn’t be (losing to).”
Fatigue may have been a factor in the opening minutes of the
first half for Cal. The Bears trailed early, but with 5:30 in the
first half, after a Bozeman 3-pointer to put UCLA up 30-14, the Cal
duo of Leon Powe, who was named tournament MVP, and Ayinde Ubaka
ignited the Bears. Powe and Ubaka scored all of the Bears’
points during their 13-0 run to pull their team within three at the
end of the half, 32-29.
Just one night before, Powe and Ubaka scored 58 of Cal’s
91 points in its double overtime win over Oregon on Friday. Their
play carried over against the Bruins.
Ubaka was consistent from the floor, scoring 18 points on
6-for-11 shooting, and Powe did damage on the inside, finishing
with 18 points and eight rebounds.
“You can’t really stop Powe,” UCLA freshman
forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said. “We just have to slow
him down. He’s very strong and he has a good game. He’s
going to be in the NBA some day.”
However, the Bruins limited Powe’s touches in the second
half and continued to send in one extra defender, and at times two,
against Powe.
“I beat the first man, but then the next man was just a
few steps behind,” Powe said. “The defense on their
part was very good. They would come on a double (team), sit back
for a little bit, and then come on a double again to keep you off
balance.”
With balanced scoring from all of UCLA’s starters and UCLA
guard Jordan Farmar hitting three 3-pointers within a two-minute
stretch for a game-high 19 points, the Bruins used a 20-6 run in
the middle of the second period to pull away from the Bears.
Now the only thing left to check off is a national championship.
The quest begins Thursday.