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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- UCLA's unpredictable season will last another
game, thanks to a lot of flashy offense, a little tough defense and
the late arrival of Jason Kapono.
Kapono scored all of his 17 points in the second half and Earl
Watson had 12 assists while leading a strong second-half offensive
attack as sixth-seeded UCLA beat 11th-seeded Ball State 65-57
Thursday night.
|  | | UCLA's Jason Kapono fouls Duane Clemens, landing on the Ball State guard. |
The Bruins' tournament hopes were all but dead before they won
their last six games and beat top-ranked Stanford during the
season's final three weeks. UCLA won its seventh straight and
advanced to face Maryland on Saturday by finally shaking free of
the Cardinals, who stayed on UCLA's heels throughout the second
half.
Ball State led 33-32 with less than 15 minutes to play before
the Cardinals' shots stopped falling and UCLA's potent offense --
particularly Kapono -- got revved up. The Bruins protected the lead
late by shutting down the Cardinals' shooters and finally hitting
some free throws.
"I thought it would be a grinder, kind of ugly, but we're not
going to get into get into grading wins at this point in the
season," said UCLA coach Steve Lavin, who won a first-round game
for the third time in his four seasons in Westwood.
A half-dozen UCLA players made significant offensive
contributions as the Bruins (20-11) overpowered Ball State (22-9)
with a 15-0 run early in the second half. Kapono, the Bruins'
scoring leader, hit four 3-pointers, while Dan Gadzuric provided
strong defense inside and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Kapono passed up several shots and missed the three he took in
the first half, leading some to wonder if the precocious freshman
was cracking under the pressure. Kapono admitted he felt "kind of
weird, with the dome, March Madness and everything," but he
answered all questions with a clutch shooting display.
Kapono credited Ball State's switch from a physical man-to-man
defense to a zone for allowing him to get free and hit shots.
"When they stuck with the zone in the second half, I kind of
got happy," he said.
"It's just a shame that we let Kapono get away from us,"
Cardinals guard Mickey Hosier said. "He's such a good shooter. He
gets confidence and you're going to be in trouble, and we were in
trouble."
JaRon Rush, in his fourth game back from NCAA suspension, hit
two 3-pointers as the Bruins opened a 47-33 lead with 10:48 to
play. Rush finished with 14 points and Jerome Moiso added 12.
The Bruins' free throw shooting was as bad as ever until the
final seconds, when Kapono and Moiso hit big ones. UCLA, which was
upset in the first round last season by Detroit, couldn't afford to
breathe easily until the grinning Kapono hit four free throws in
the final minute.
We lost track of Kapono, and you knew that he was going to get
going at some time," Ball State coach Ray McCallum said. "He was
the big difference in the second half."
Gadzuric added a euphoric dunk with less than a second to play
to cap the win. As they ran off the court, the jubilant Bruins
appeared to finally be enjoying themselves after a tense season.
High-scoring Duane Clemens had 16 points to lead Ball State, but
he was just 7-of-24 from the field and was hounded all night by
Watson and Kapono. Cedric Moodie had 15 points off the bench for
the Cardinals, who were making their first tournament appearance
since 1995.
The game was a turf war even before it began. After pregame
introductions, the teams gathered at midcourt for their huddles and
began accidentally bumping into each other, leading the officials
to smilingly step between them.
Both teams shot poorly and played excellent defense in the first
half, leading to a low halftime score of 26-22. Gadzuric's
thunderous one-handed alley-oop dunk put UCLA up 18-9, but Ball
State scored the next seven points and eventually took a four-point
lead on Patrick Jackson's second 3-pointer with four seconds left
in the half.
But the momentum Ball State held early in the second half
disappeared as the Bruins began to put on an offensive show
befitting a team with four McDonald's All-Americans and a vast
wealth of talent. Moiso, Gadzuric and Rush all threw down
alley-oops and Kapono buried consecutive 3-pointers during a
four-minute span.
After Kapono's second 3-pointer brought most of the Metrodome
crowd to its feet, Watson yelled encouragement at Kapono.
"I just told him to keep knocking them down," Watson said. "I
knew once he got started, our team would get started."
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UCLA NCAA Team Report
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