Press once again saves the day for UCLA (ONLINE EXTRA)

By AJ Cadman
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

GREENSBORO, N.C. – When times got rough, the UCLA men’s
basketball team realized how to press Hofstra’s buttons.

The Bruins have always run into the same complications of an
upstart NCAA Tournament first-round opponent. In 1999 they fell
56-53 to Detroit Mercy in Indianapolis, Ind. Last year it was a
65-57 squeaker past Ball State in Minneapolis, Minn.

On Thursday afternoon, it was the slow-paced style of the
America East conference champion Hofstra Pride that knocked UCLA
behind by as many as six points seven minutes into the second
half.

Then the match was lit in the opening round showdown and the
Bruins played with a fire that was ignited by their full-court
pressure.

"We extended and did a better job guarding their pick and roll
screens at the top," said UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin of his team’
second half performance. "We did a better job switching on their
three pointers. Our zone defense and being more aggressive on the
ball made it so they couldn’t window shop and get good looks."

Hofstra opened the first half with seven of their 10 field goals
coming from beyond the three point arc. Pride shooting guard Rick
Apodaca had three of the seven from downtown, the last knotting the
score at 25.

The surge of consistent shooting from a squad that posted a 33
percent three-point shooting clip entering the game was shocking
the Bruins.

"Going into the second half, we emphasized getting a couple more
stops and trying to hold them to under 35 percent shooting," said
Bruin senior guard Earl Watson.

Coming out of halftime, a rejuvenated UCLA ballclub came out
onto the floor in search of an answer to a 33-29 deficit. It was
found underneath their jerseys, and it was Lavin who suggested the
notion.

"Our will to win was challenged by Coach Lavin and from that
point on," Watson said, "every stop was critical."

"Coach (Lavin) is not one of those coaches that will cuss you
out or throw a chair," he added. "He tries to stay positive and be
really supportive. We ended up doing better than (what we
wanted)."

Lavin, however, gave credit to his players.

"Our kids kept their poise and composure in forcing 21 turnovers
for the game," he said. "Earl’s dive into press row and call for a
timeout was crucial. I thought Billy (Knight) hit a couple of key
shots for us off steals. And when Dan (Gadzuric) picked up his
fourth foul, I thought we played with a lot of energy in our
matchup zone."

With 13 minutes left Hofstra stretched its advantage to as much
as six points again on Apodaca’s fourth three-pointer of the game.
But UCLA’s high-octane effort in the press afterwards resulted in
the Pride finishing with 15 total second-half points. After the
nine minute mark of the second

frame, the Bruins prevented a Hofstra field goal and embarked on
a 17-3 run to close out the game.

"I think they were packing it in the middle in the first half
and that gave us good looks from the three-point line," said
Hofstra forward Norman Richardson. "Then they extended their
defense and played a little zone that took those looks away from
us."

Shots that fell easily earlier in the game began to clang off
the rim.

The Bruins finished with 13 steals and outscored the Pride in
the paint 34-8. The sluggish nature of Head Coach Jay Wright’s
Pride was a result from the wear and tear of the UCLA press.

"They did a great job defensively and were able to force us into
a lot of turnovers," said Pride point guard Jason Hernandez.
"(UCLA) has great athletes, but it’s not because we got tired (that
we lost)."

After forking over 96 points in the conference season finale to
Washington, UCLA’s 48-point defensive effort was its best in the
NCAA Tournament since a 43-41 loss to Princeton in the first round
in 1996. Hopefully for the Bruins, switching the press on will keep
the lights from going out on their Dance in March Madness.