Bruins hope to keep Cal at bay at Staples
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 6, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 DANIEL WONG/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff In order for UCLA
to do well in the Pac-10 Tournament, it will need freshman
Cedric Bozeman to take more shots.
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The last time Billy Knight was at the Staples Center was when
former Bruin Earl Watson came to town with the Seattle Sonics to
play the Lakers. After the game, Knight wanted to size the place
up. He walked onto the court to get a feel for the rims and the
three-point line, but within seconds, he was escorted off the
court.
Tonight, when Knight and his teammates face off against No. 25
Cal in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament, he will at least
be on the floor for 40 minutes. But how many games the Bruins get
to play at Staples beyond that depends on which Bruin team shows
up.
In UCLA’s first matchup with Cal, the Bruins (19-10, 11-7
Pac-10) sent Cal (21-6, 12-5) home with a 64-57 loss on Jan. 26
after a grinder of a game. Just five weeks later, it was the Bruins
who were sent packing, after a 69-51 blow-out loss at Haas
Pavilion.
This time it’s personal ““ or at least a major factor
in where each team is seeded in the NCAA tournament.
The two UC schools will face off in the first Pac-10 conference
tournament since 1990. The tournament was in place from 1987 to
1990, with UCLA earning the title in ’87 and Arizona claiming
the next three.
The Bruins are glad to go up against Cal for a third time this
season, and according to many team members, the game will be more
like the grinder-style the two teams engaged in in Pauley.
“Cal is a good matchup for us in terms of
competitiveness,” head coach Steve Lavin said. “Neither
team has an inherent advantage. The game that was played here is
more of what you can expect on Thursday. But you can be sure it
will be competitive and hard fought.”
But lingering tension between the squads will probably be a
factor in Thursday’s game. The last time the teams met, Matt
Barnes was ejected for a flagrant foul that resulted in Shantay
Legans being knocked out.
“Shantay probably won’t do anything, but some of the
other guys were really upset after the last game,” Knight
said. “And they’ll probably be going at Matt. But what
happened up there was a frustration thing, and Matt knows that he
has to control himself. He won’t do anything.”
Playing at a neutral site should diffuse some of the possible
tension between the teams. Staples also gives the Bruins a sort of
home-court advantage, in terms of fan-base and the fact that this
is the second weekend in a row that UCLA will be in L.A.
“I think there will be a lot of UCLA support out at
Staples because it’s in L.A.,” Bruin guard Rico Hines
said. “We’re a team that feeds off the crowd, so the
more blue and gold out there the better.”
The tournament could work in the Bruins’ favor, as they
have yet to build their usual late-season momentum.
“We want to play as many games as possible,” Hines
said. “We have the chance to prove that we can win three
straight, to show our veteran leadership and our team
chemistry.”
The fact that the Pac-10 Tournament is played in
single-elimination format is also a preparation for the NCAA
Tournament.
“We get to play in single-elimination format and still
have another chance to play,” Lavin said. “Playing at
Staples will be (NCAA) Tournament atmosphere. It will give the
freshmen a chance to get their feet wet in this kind of environment
before going to the NCAA Tournament.”
Concerns of injury and fatigue are present during a three-game
stretch before the Big Dance, but the Pac-10 teams are in the same
boat as such conferences as the ACC, SEC and Big 12, that are
playing in conference tournaments this weekend.
“Every team in the country is working under similar
conditions,” Lavin said. “Hopefully some of the
momentum that we create carries over in to the
tournament.”
The Bruins’ deep bench will be crucial this weekend if
UCLA advances beyond the first round. Lavin plans to continue his
substitution pattern of the five starters and then five younger
players, such as Ryan Walcott, Andre Patterson, T.J. Cummings and
Dijon Thompson. The energy that the younger lineup brings to the
court could be the difference between the Bruins playing through
just the first game or beyond.
