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This is what it's all about.
The emotional feeling that Bruin fans experienced when Gabe Pruitt's last-second Hail Mair-ball fell short on Saturday is simply indescribable. For the second time in six weeks, UCLA, playing without an irreplacable contributor, has stunned usc in a major Sport. Not that UCLA was some huge Underdog in Basketball, but playing without hamstrung Josh Shipp, UCLA's 2nd-leading scorer, in a sold out (for the first time) Galen Center, and falling behind by ten points in the second half, it was still a stunning victory, just like Football.
On the gridiron, UCLA was "missing" Ben Olson, who had been replaced by Pat Cowan due to injury, and was not able to get his Starting job back due to rhythm and mobility issues; On the hardwood, the Bruins were missing Shipp, who was replaced by Michael Roll. Roll swished his first three-point attempt, but didn't do much else the rest of the way. Some might say that besides his shooting difficulties, he was also a liability on Defense. Several shots were made over Roll, or when Roll was beaten.
But Coach Ben Howland had an answer for this little forced downgrade, and it looked like he needed one, because stars Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison were not lighting it up in the first half. The answer was Russell Westbrook. The Freshman came in and played with confidence, making several key plays in the Bruins' second-half comeback from double-digits.
We are not trying to pimp Westbrook over Roll flat out -- Westbrook did have 3 Turnovers to Roll's zero, and and Westbrook got no Steals, while Roll nabbed a pair.
While Shipp WAS missed severely, some players did step up. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute made most of the "nose for the ball" plays that Shipp is famous for; Foul-plagued Lorenzo Mata, who missed two free throws in the final minute, got 8 Rebounds, scored 12, and had two huge buckets down the stretch; Alfred Aboya filled in for Mata admirably, also getting 8 Rebounds while delivering solid strength under the basket; Darren Collison scored a career-high 17 including consecutive threes that breathed new life into the floundering Bruins; And finally Afflalo, who also hit consecutive threes in the second half, and who demanded the ball and took the final shot, just inside the free throw line with 5 seconds left. He hit it with confidence, and the trojans were only able to get off a half-court prayer with the 4+ seconds they had left.
The trojans led for most of the game, much to the pleasure of the 70% trojan crowd, and when they moved the lead up to ten in the second half, it started to look like the troy Basketball team was going to get a small measure of payback for the Bruins knocking sc out of the BCS Title Game (which they apparently would have won, since Ohio State was so rusty in their loss to Florida).
But Arron and Darren weren't sharin' that pessimism. As usual, the UCLA Defense stiffened in crunch time, and the trojans subsequently all went cold... that is, until the Bruins had come storming back to take a 6-point lead in the final minute. Then the trojans hit a three, AND A FOUR, to take the lead back. But that was when Arron took the game in his own hands, and he put a dagger in the trojans' backs.
It's okay -- The trOJans are used to daggers.
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We received a letter that says that Nicole, a former Bruin Cheerleader (from last year), is also in the competition that Whitney is in -- the one we were talking about here last week. (Whitney and Nicole are both now members of the new Celtics' Dance Team). So, if it's not too late, please go to your other computer and put in another vote through NBA.com or the Celtics' site!
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FINAL NOTE --
Another disaster almost destroyed New Orleans yesterday, when Saints' Rookie Reggie Bush FUMBLED a lateral in the final minutes of his first NFL Playoff game. Reggie Push is the ex-trojan who is most familiar with laterals gone wild, as it was his wayward toss that cost his team the National Championship against Texas last year. But this was a perfect pitch from Drew Brees that Reggie took his eyes off of, and it nearly cost the Saints' their season. The were up by 3, just trying to run out the clock, and the Turnover gave the Eagles a chance. But they failed to score, and allowed the Saints to escape into the Conference Championship (DESPITE Bush).
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