UCLA WHERE IT WANTS TO BE: ON THE BRINK.Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer PHILADELPHIA - Their backs are to the wall, they're in over their heads and certainly they are down to their last tomorrow. No wonder UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX is so relaxed and confident. The Bruins are right where they want to be for tonight's East Regional semifinal against No. 1-ranked Duke at First Union Center - blindfolded blind·fold tr.v. blind·fold·ed, blind·fold·ing, blind·folds 1. To cover the eyes of with or as if with a bandage. 2. To prevent from seeing and especially from comprehending. n. 1. with a cigarette in their mouth. For much of the season, UCLA has had to manufacture adversity, from the Rick Pitino Rick Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is the head basketball coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996. rumors to Casey Jacobsen Casey Gardner Jacobsen (born March 19 1981 in Glendora, California) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies. He has an extensive European basketball career and most recently played for the Brose Baskets, where he won the German Basketball guarantees. They don't have to look very far for their indignation today. All they need to do is pick up their morning paper and they'll notice that no other Sweet 16 team is a bigger underdog than they are. Duke is listed as a 12 1/2-point favorite, or nearly three times as many points by which Kentucky is picked to beat USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. . It's twice as much as Stanford is expected to whip Cincinnati. UCLA captain Earl Watson Earl Joseph Watson Jr. (born June 12, 1979 in Kansas City, Kansas) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. A 6'1", 195 lbs. wondered whether the Bruins are playing Duke or the Lakers. Then he reached over his shoulder to adjust the chip he was carrying. ``I've been an underdog my whole life so it doesn't bother me,'' Watson said. ``We've been an underdog for Hofstra. It's been like that every year.'' If Duke (31-4), which outscores its opponents by an average of 21.3 points, is to be feared, then it will not be by the Bruins. Why, Watson even suggests that Duke better be ready to play. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how Duke's mentality is, but if they overlook us, it's going to be a whole different game than people expect,'' Watson said. ``I think we match up with them perfectly.'' Watson admires Duke point guard Jason Williams Jason Williams can refer to any of the following people:
Forward Matt Barnes, who has the size and quickness to handle Shane Battier, praises Duke's national player of the year. But with a wink he adds, ``I'm going to make him remember me.'' If it becomes a 3-point shooting contest, the Bruins will be glad to match Jason Kapono and Billy Knight against Mike Dunleavy and Chris Duhon. And what kind of answer does Duke have for Dan Gadzuric but a less-than-fit Carlos Boozer. It also should be pointed out that Duke is 3-2 against teams still in the tournament, with the three wins coming by a total of five points. UCLA is 5-3 against teams still playing. ``We beat Stanford and Arizona so that tells us if we're playing our game, we can beat anybody,'' Knight said. ``There are no unbeatable teams in the country.'' The Bruins say Duke's image is perpetrated by the tremendous exposure it enjoys on network and cable television. ``The media can create a monster,'' Watson said. ``With the publicity Duke gets with the ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network package and being on nationwide CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. every other week, I think that has something to do with it.'' The Bruins (23-8) have pined for this matchup all season. The Blue Devils' desire to play a fast-paced, wide-open game is fine with them. Duke has thrived on its long-range shooting, setting an NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association record with 374 3-pointers this season. The 27 3-pointers they take per game often means lots of long rebounds. Thus, the Bruins' primary defensive objectives are to contest Duke's 3- point shoots and control the boards. When the Blue Devils outshoot out·shoot tr.v. out·shot , out·shoot·ing, out·shoots To shoot better than (another): a pistol that easily outshoots others in its class; a basketball player who outshot all others on the team. their opponents they are 26-0. When they are ahead or even on the boards they are 22-0. ``We have to do those two things,'' Barnes said. ``From head to toe, they're the best shooting team I've seen.'' UCLA-DUKE MATCHUP Duke UCLA Record 31-4 23-8 Avg. Pts. 91.6 80.0 Opp. Avg. Pts. 70.3 74.4 Margin 21.3 5.6 FG Pct. .486 .466 Opp. FG Pct. .417 .438 3-Pt. FG Pct. .395 .355 Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct. .346 .316 3-Pt. FG-Game 10.7 6.0 Opp. 3-Pt. FG-Game 3.5 6.4 FT Pct. .689 .663 Rebound Margin 1.9 2.6 TO Diff. 5.7 1.5 Avg Steals 10.6 7.7 Avg Blocks 5.0 4.0 UCLA vs. DUKE Tipoff: 6:55 p.m., at First Union Center TV/Radio: Ch. 2; 1150-AM UCLA (23-8) update: UCLA is 3-5 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams in the NCAA Tournament, most recently getting blown out 94-68 by Kentucky in 1998. Center Dan Gadzuric has averaged 10.2 rebounds over the last 12 games. The Bruins must win the battle of the boards and shoot well. Duke is 26-0 when it outshoots its opponent and 22-0 when it's even or has an edge in rebounding. Duke (31-4) update: Duke took the Greensboro-Philadelphia-Minneapolis route to the national title in 1992 and looming is a possible rematch with Kentucky, whom the Blue Devils beat in overtime that season on Christian Laettner's jumper at the buzzer. Shane Battier might be the consensus National Player of the Year, but in the postseason he's lost his shooting touch. In five NCAA and ACC See adaptive cruise control. tournament games, he's shooting just 31.8 percent on 3-pointers and 39.2 percent from the field. -Billy Witz CAPTION(S): photo, 6 boxes Photo: Earl Watson, front, and his UCLA teammates relish the role of underdogs going into today's game against Duke. Rusty Kennedy/Associated Press Box: (1) UCLA-DUKE MATCHUP (see text) (2) UCLA vs. DUKE (see text) (3) UCLA statistics (4) Duke statistics (5) USC statistics (6) Kentucky statistics |
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