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| After a strong performance in the Pac-12 tournament, junior guard Norman Powell will return to his hometown of San Diego to face Tulsa. (Katie Meyers/Daily Bruin senior staff) |
dAILY BRUIN
Coach Steve Alford stood before a pool of reporters Sunday, answering questions about his team’s recently awarded No. 4 seed in the South region of the NCAA tournament and frequently clearing his throat.
In front of him echoed a painfully hoarse voice earned during the conclusion of UCLA’s 75-71 win over Arizona the day before. Behind him stood a backdrop of UCLA’s 110 national championship trophies, filling a trophy case that tends to put even the most improbable of early-postseason victories in perspective.
For Alford and Co., there are still marbles to be had. The enchilada isn’t quite whole and the kit is without the caboodle. Alford recognized there are greater, more pressing challenges ahead as his team opens up the NCAA tournament against No. 13 seed Tulsa on Friday night in San Diego.
“To be one of the top four seeds in a region, that’s important for our first year and building the foundation. To win a Pac-12 championship, to get one of the top four seeds and then be able to play very local, that’s a great opportunity,” Alford said. “We have to make the most of it.”
Reaching the regional semifinals in Memphis the following weekend won’t require as much of a show as the Bruins put on last weekend in Las Vegas, where UCLA downed three tournament teams in three consecutive days to change the scope of its season.
After an 18-point loss to Washington State in the team’s final regular-season game on March 8, the Bruins were projected as a middling No. 8 or No. 9 seed and appeared destined for an early-round exit. Three high-octane performances later, UCLA is playing its best basketball of the season and now faces a reasonable expectation to make it past the tournament’s first weekend.
Finally learning to play away from Pauley Pavilion, and consistently for the first time all season, the Bruins were rewarded with an opportunity to play as close to home as possible, just a two-hour drive away in San Diego State’s Viejas Arena.
For one Bruin, the favorable arena is home. Norman Powell is in the midst of a red-letter week; the junior guard averaged better than 15 points per game in the Pac-12 tournament and now returns close to where he played his high school basketball at Lincoln High School: San Diego.
“As soon as I saw that we were the four seed playing in San Diego, my phone was blowing up with text messages and people excited for me to go back there and play in front of them,” Powell said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played in San Diego.”
It’s also been eight years since the Bruins last played in San Diego in an NCAA tournament setting. The 2005-2006 season marked the start of UCLA’s three straight Final Four runs, but before they dive too deep into memory, the Bruins must focus on the task at hand.
The Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa have won 11 straight games. The round of 32 offers the winner of an always-dangerous Virginia Commonwealth and a Stephen F. Austin squad that hasn’t lost since Nov. 23.
Regardless of the opponent, UCLA is confident in its recently realized strength. In Vegas, the Bruins made crucial runs before opposing defenses could adjust. In the opening six minutes of Friday’s and Saturday’s contests, they outscored Stanford and Arizona 35-11.
At 26-8, these Bruins are a far cry from the No. 6 seed that collapsed in the second round of last year’s “Big Dance.” UCLA is as healthy and confident as ever, and appears to have learned the most obvious of lessons from its 20-point beatdown at the hands of Minnesota a year ago.
“Not to lose in the second round,” said sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson. “There wasn’t much we could take from it. It was a short trip. It was unfortunate, but we move on.”
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