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It doesn't take Inspector Clouseau to see how UCLA got their 64-55 Sweet 16 victory over Pitt: The Panthers couldn't get the ball to fit in the hoop. Pitt missed lay-up after lay-up, throughout the entire game. The Bruins played their usual tenacious Defense, but it did have several breakdowns, including two plays in a row where Pitt got uncontested lay-ups. But more often than not, when the Panthers did get a good look, they choked.
After the game, the Pitt players remarked that they have never ever seen the team miss that many gimmes. Even 7-foot Aaron Gray was pathetic, blowing shots that had to be harder to miss than to make.
The Panthers ended up shooting 36%, and plenty of that was due to the effective double-teams of Gray down low, as well as the double-teams off the trap at the top of the key.
The Bruins never trailed in this game. They were up 32-26 at the Half, and built the lead up to 12 in the 2nd Half. But the Panthers didn't quit, cutting the lead back down to 5 when they final hit a few threes.
The lead was 5 with a minute left when Michael Roll hit a short baseline jumper to keep the Panthers at bay. Other than that field goal, it was free throws that kept the Bruins ahead. They made 23 of 26, or 88%, including most of them down the stretch. Arron Afflalo hit 10 out of 10, despite his ongoing slump from the field. He led all scorers with 17, even though he was only 3-for-11 from the floor.
Luckily for AA and the Bruins, Josh Shipp picked up the slack on the perimeter. Josh hit three three-pointers, on his way to 16 points. Josh needs to be that "third threat" for the Bruins, if they are going to continue this run, and he certainly was on Thursday night.
Another huge contributor was the tough-as-nails Lorenzo Mata, who went toe-to-toe with the Pitt 7-footer and completely held his own. You could say that Mata, with the help of some timely double-teams, actually outplayed Gray. Mata had 8 points and 9 Rebounds, compared to Gray's 10 and 6. Also, Mata has to, in some way, get some credit for all those Pitt shots which he might have challenged, altered, or intimidated into bricks.
Darren Collison ran the team well -- They didn't stagnate too often on Offense, and he didn't dribble too much. The Bruins didn't score much due to a tough Pitt Defense, and the fact that Afflalo is still struggling with his outside shot.
The Bruin bench did a nice job, with James Keefe contributing 10 solid minutes that included a strong slam dunk. Keefe however, did not get any Rebounds in his 10 minutes. Pretty strange, especially on a night where the Bruins' best Rebounder, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, got only 2 Rebounds himself. Ryan Wright made the most of his 3 minutes, by making the best play of his career: An awesome block that raised the roof in San Jose. Russell Westbrook donated 6 minutes, which included a nice drive all the way to the bucket for a lay-in, and Alfred Aboya played 18 hard-working minutes, grabbing 2 Boards, and giving his all on screens and box-outs. He missed all 4 of his shots, but they weren't bricks, and will probably go down in the future.
Speaking of the future ("The Future, Conan?"), the Bruins play Kansas on Saturday with the winner moving on to the Final Four. But first, SUC plays North Carolina to get to the Elite Eight. One of Carolina's star players had Strep Throat, and last year, sc kicked the Tarheels' asses. So, the Carolina boys have their work cut out for them tonight, especially considering that the trojans have improved quite a bit from last year -- so much, that some people are wondering if a little HGH has made its way from the Mausoleum to the Galen Center locker room. That's the kind of rumor that starts when you're talking about sudden improvement in athletes at the Institution that gave us Mark McGwire and the Ting Brothers Pharmaceutical Company. And don't even get us started on Brandon Hancock...
The point is, that sc could easily whip NC, instantly ruining any good feeling still hovering around from Thursday night's big Bruin triumph. So, Go Heels. And if you're one of those odious raving lunatics that want sc to win for the sake of making the Pac-10 look good, well, then, in our humble opinion, you can go f*ck yourself -- you're surfing the wrong site.
Below are 4 close-ups of some of the most recent Bruin Heroes.
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