Bruins Bounce Ball

MINNEAPOLIS — That zany Jason Kapono and his nutty UCLA teammates were at it again Thursday night, offering high jinks and pratfalls and a 65-57 victory over Ball State in the Metrodome in the first round of the Midwest Regional as only they can, quirky all the way.

Kapono came out in a yellow headband for a change--the mother of his college roommate did the honors, maybe with dye or maybe with paint--but found the fit too loose and switched back to his usual white. After a scoreless first half, he also went back to carrying the sixth-seeded Bruins, making four three-point shots after intermission and scoring all 17 of his points to spark a comeback. Typical Kapono.

They were overpowering at times and underwhelming at others, but found the hammer in time, using a 15-0 run in the second half to take control, setting up a Saturday meeting with third-seeded Maryland. Typical Bruins.

“It’s the same,” said Dan Gadzuric, who had 10 points and 12 rebounds and had no problems with a thumb injury from the day before. “We let our opponents get us at some time and then we suddenly come back stronger. It’s been like that the last three weeks.”

So have the outcomes. UCLA’s winning streak reached seven games, put the Bruins in the round of 32 for the third time in Steve Lavin’s four seasons as coach and broke the 20-victory barrier for the 12th consecutive year.

Lavin stayed with the same starters as the final week of the regular season against the Washington schools, meaning Gadzuric again came off the bench, and not because of the sprained left thumb sustained in practice the day before, Sean Farnham stayed in the opening lineup at power forward and Billy Knight at shooting guard. Changes were considered at both, with several possibilities for replacements.

This was as opposed to the first round last year against Detroit Mercy at Indianapolis, which brought a switch and a crushing loss to an upstart from the Midwest. Not that the Bruins still remembered that game or anything.

“It’s still with me right to this day,” guard Earl Watson said going in, “and I think every member of the team would say that.”

One year and five days later, they got the chance for redemption. Or a chance to really get fired up for the 2001 run.

An 18-9 lead was an immediate statement for a team whose intensity is always in doubt at tipoff, but it was also short-lived. Four scoreless minutes followed, allowing Ball State (22-9) to close within two, and, following that UCLA basket, another 2:13 without a point.

It took a Gadzuric dunk that broke that string, as the Bruins looked inside against a team with little depth among big men. The encouraging start had given way to having to start over, quickly to become having to play from behind.

No matter that the Cardinals shot 36.7% in the first half, or that Duane Clemens, their leading scorer during the regular season made only two of 11 attempts, or that they brought only one player taller than 6-2 off the bench in those first 20 minutes. Cedric Moodie’s three-pointer was worth a 23-22 lead. Patrick Jackson’s baseline three-pointer with two seconds left made it 26-22 at the break.

“The Detroit Mercy game really went through my head after that,” forward JaRon Rush said.

This may have been the typical Bruins, going back and forth, but this was also the program that brought you that crash landing in 1999 . . . and Princeton ’96 . . . and Tulsa ’94 . . . and Penn State ‘91, so it wasn’t hard to imagine the possibilities. A six-game winning streak, beating Stanford and Oregon and closing the regular season five days earlier with a rout of Washington, a nine-point lead in this one, and suddenly getting chased into the locker room.

The momentum swung back early in the second half, when Kapono made three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Neither was much of a surprise, the reincarnation of the Bruins or the major boost from Kapono after a scoreless 15 minutes before intermission that included only three field goal attempts from any distance. In the previous four games, he was 14 of 25 from behind the arc.

Kapono connected from long range three minutes later, and Rush, a spark off the bench again with 14 points, added a pair of three-pointers himself on a night he made three of five from there and five of nine overall. The second pushed the Bruin lead to 12, 45-33, with 11:01 remaining.

Ball State made one final push, getting within 57-53 with 2:27 left before the Bruins slammed the door for good, signaling the end of the Cardinals and, maybe, Detroit Mercy. A double victory. Very wacky.

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By The Numbers

36 Tournament appearances by UCLA (80-28 record)

7 Tournament appearances by Ball State (3-7 record)

6-4 UCLA record in first round in the last 10 years

33% UCLA’s field-goal shooting in first half (10-30)

60% UCLA’s field-goal shooting in second half (15-25)

0 Points in first half for UCLA freshman Jason Kapono

17 Points in second half for Kapono

25-7 Run by UCLA in first 9:12 of second half as Bruins took the lead for good

14 Points, biggest UCLA lead

6 Points, biggest UCLA deficit

Game Breakdown

HIGH SCORERS

UCLA

Jason Kapono, 17

Ball State

Duane Clemens, 16

*

MOST REBOUNDS

UCLA

Dan Gadzuric, 12

Ball State

Josh Murray, 7

*

MOST ASSISTS

UCLA

Earl Watson, 12

Ball State

Mickey Hosier, 5

TALE OF THE TAPE

UCLA Ball State

*--*

65 Points 57 45 Rebounds 28 19 Assists 13 18 Turnovers 12 .455 FG% .358 .350 3-pt. FG% .400 .444 FT% .250

*--*

TOUGH SCHEDULE

After all the comments about a soft schedule, UCLA earned its spot in the NCAA tournament against one of the toughest slates in the country. R4

WOMEN

MIDEAST REGIONAL

UCLA vs.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

at South Bend, Ind.

Today, 3 p.m.

*

MIDEAST REGIONAL

PEPPERDINE vs.

VIRGINIA

at Charlottesville, Va.

Tonight, 5:30 PST

*

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR

The opponents’ uniforms have “George Washington” across the front, but UCLA may at times think its playing an international all-star team today. Pepperdine also opens the tournament tonight. R3