Knocking on the door With the Bruins’
victory last Saturday over then-No. 1 Stanford, you’d think
that UCLA would enter the national rankings in this week’s
Top 25 polls. Apparently, the coaches and the media do not concur.
The Bruins (13-6, 7-2 Pac-10) managed only six votes in the
ESPN/USA Today poll released Sunday to sit at No. 36 in the
country. However, UCLA garnered 93 votes in the Associated Press
Top 25, good for the No. 26 spot. “The important thing is
that we are one game out of first place,” said UCLA senior
point guard Earl Watson said of the Bruins’ place in the
Pac-10. “Now we have a tough game coming up against USC. We
think we have a good chance of winning the Pac-10 and that’s
our goal.” UCLA hold the No. 9 Ratings Percentage Index (RPI)
this week and boasts the nation’s second strongest schedule.
Stanford retains the top spot in the RPI this week, while former
Bruin head coach Jim Harrick’s Georgia Bulldogs claim this
week’s honor for the strongest schedule in NCAA Division I
men’s basketball. To be(at) the No. 1 For
the second consecutive season UCLA head coach Steve Lavin has taken
his squad up to Maples Pavilion and defeated the then-No. 1
Stanford Cardinal (20-1, 8-1). With last year’s Miracle at
Maples and last Saturday’s victory after a 29-point loss to
California less than 48 hours earlier, the Bruins have now defeated
a No. 1 team for the eighth time in school history. According to
the Associated Press, this gives UCLA the second most victories
over a top-ranked team in NCAA history. Previously tied at seven
wins with North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Ohio State, the Bruins
are tied with Duke and trail only the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame,
who have nine. “I don’t think you can ever think that
Stanford is ripe for the taking,” Lavin said on Saturday.
“We caught them at a good time and they caught us a bad time.
But they will still be a No. 1 seed (in the NCAA
Tournament).”
Monty’s kids In Palo Alto, Stanford head
coach Mike Montgomery faces the scrutiny of losing for the second
consecutive time to the Bruins while holding the nation’s top
spot in the polls. While many analysts believe that an undefeated
season would have been difficult to achieve and that
Saturday’s loss might be a blessing in disguise, Montgomery
disagrees. “There is no silver lining to losing to UCLA at
home,” Montgomery said Saturday. “We had a chance in
the first half to put a nail in the coffin. We needed a tough game
and we got one.” Montgomery followed Saturday’s defeat
by hinting that the Cardinal perhaps was not equipped or prepared
for the type of differing individual matchup that the Bruins pose
on both ends of the floor. “We are in a valley right now. We
didn’t seem to have the energy they did. They deserved to win
and we have to bounce back.” “It wasn’t the
optimum situation. We didn’t do what we needed to do to win
and they did.”
Notes compiled by AJ Cadman, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.