ONLINE EXTRA: Bruins upset top seed Cincy in 2 OTs

By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

PITTSBURGH, Pa – The UCLA Bruins never stopped chugging along.
Not when Cincinnati stretched its lead to seven for the umpteenth
time. Not when Jason Kapono was whistled for his fourth foul with
11:45 left in the second half. And certainly not when Cedric
Bozeman crumpled to the floor with 2:30 to go in the second
overtime. The scrappy eighth-seeded Bruins (21-11) fought to a
105-101 double-overtime victory over No. 1-seeded Cincinnati (31-3)
in front of a nearly full house at Mellon Arena.

"It was just a great college basketball game," UCLA head coach
Steve Lavin said. "The situation where you hate to see either of
these teams lose."

The Bruins’ engine was fueled by confidence, and their heads
never hung thanks to their ace-bandaged and sidelined senior leader
Rico Hines. "Rico was yelling through the whole game," Dijon
Thompson said. "He said, ‘This isn’t the way we want to go
out.’"

Sunday’s game had UCLA written all over it. It was the standard
David vs. Goliath showdown, and the Bruins couldn’t wait to get
their paws all over it.

"We knew coming into the game that we were supposed to win,"
Thompson said. "We know we’re a better team. We know we have a lot
of talent. They have some good players, but we knew we could win
this game."

The game itself was a microcosm of the Bruins’ season, They
played the first half without much spark, falling behind by as many
as 13, and then slowly but surely found a way out of the hole to
emerge as giant-killers.

With the Bruin defense over-aggressively defending Conference
USA Player of the Year Steve Logan in the first half, the seams
opened up allowing the Bearcats to take over the paint. Cincinnati
dominated the glass in the first half, and made the contest look a
like a volleyball game, taking advantage of 13 offensive rebounds
for 17 points. But the Bruins wouldn’t give in.

"At half-time, I told the guys to fight back. We weren’t going
to go out like that," Hines said. "Dan did that. He went down low
and showed he’s the best center in the country."

Dan Gadzuric had a clear advantage inside in the first half,
going for 16 points and six rebounds in the first period. He
further exploited his size and stature for 10 more points and seven
rebounds in the final 30 minutes of play.

"Dan just played like a monster," Kapono said. "He was a
dinosaur out there. He played extremely well."

UCLA took two steps forward and one back for the first 11
minutes of the first half and couldn’t seem to avoid the return of
a six-point deficit. But with 8:49 left in regulation, Matt Barnes
took matters into his own hands, hitting two three-pointers in a
span of 15 seconds and bringing the Bruins to within three at
65-62. UCLA had been knocking on Cincinnati’s door through the
whole game, and finally Cincinnati couldn’t restrain the Bruins
anymore.

UCLA took its first lead since the beginning of the game thanks
to Kapono’s six points in back to back possessions, the second trio
coming in a three-point play with 4:22 on the clock, putting UCLA
ahead at 74-73. The second half ended in an 80-80 tie, sending the
game into overtime number one. Cincinnati won the game’s
second-half tip-off, but on their first possession, Gadzuric
blocked a lay-up attempt, resulting in a jump ball and a UCLA
possession. The Bruins won the opening tip in the second overtime,
and by that time it was clear that Mr. Mo Mentum had changed
jerseys. The Bruins went on a 7-4 run to open the second overtime,
capped by Knight’s bucket and a foul with 1:27 to go.

"Dan tipped it, and it came right to me, "Knight said. "I
thought the refs weren’t going to call it so I went up strong.
We’ve been in games like this before. We fought back and believed
in ourselves."

The Bruin bench and a season-low nine turnovers were the
game-winning intangibles.

"I think (UCLA’s bench) did make a difference, especially since
we went into double overtime," Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins
said. "In the second overtime, we got a little tired – we don’t
have enough people."

Bozeman and Dijon Thompson played with a confident swagger
Sunday. Bozeman was unafraid to drive through traffic, finishing
with eight points, while Thompson found his groove with mid-range
jumpers and totaled 10 points on the night. Barnes (17), Gadzuric
(26), Knight (12) and Kapono (19) joined Thompson in double
figures. Gadzuric’s 26 was a season high.

NOTES: The Bruins advance to their fifth Sweet
Sixteen in six years and will face Missouri on Thursday in San
Jose. Lavin and Duke head coach Mike Kryzewski are the only active
head coaches to accomplish this feat. … Hines, who left the game
late in the first half, suffered a strained left knee and will get
an MRI on Monday. … Bozeman tweaked his ankle in Sunday’s game
but is definite for Thursday’s game. … Lavin is 10-2 in overtime
in his career. … Sunday’s game was the first double overtime
tournament game for the Bruins since 1974, Bill Walton’s senior
year.