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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- UCLA senior guard Rico Barnes decided to
accessorize his sneakers for the NCAA tournament by writing "Final
Four" on the sides.
"I don't know if any of the guys saw that," said Hines, a
fifth-year senior. "But that's been one of my goals for my six
years here. I wanted to send a message."
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A lot of people predicted Steve Lavin would go down early in this year's Tourney -- but there was no fallout for the Bruins against the tenacious Ole Miss defense. The Bruins applied pressure on the defensive end and got a superb performances from veteran Billy Knight and diaper dandy Dijon Thompson. UCLA was in control from the first tip, running the court exceptionally well and making the open shots.
UCLA is the Jekel and Hyde of college basketball, but they brought their "A" game Friday. They better bring their "A+" game when they hook up with the Cincinnati Bearcats in round two. When they beat Kansas earlier this season, the Bruins proved they can beat anyone. Bobby Huggins will not sleep well Friday night.
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The Bruins delivered one -- loud and clear.
Billy Knight made three straight 3-pointers to open the second
half as UCLA advanced to the second round of the West Regional with
an 80-58 victory over Mississippi on Friday night.
The eighth-seeded Bruins (20-11), who entered having lost four
of their last six and have been inconsistent the past two months,
looked like a team capable of making a run deep into the
tournament.
"They talk about teams that are hot coming in," Knight said.
"But that doesn't mean anything. It's what you do when you get
here."
To advance farther, the Bruins will have to get by top-seeded
Cincinnati in the second round Sunday. Behind Steve Logan's 27
points, the Bearcats rolled to a 90-52 win over 16th-seeded Boston
University.
Knight finished with 21 points and freshman Dijon Thompson had
16 for the Bruins, who got a huge lift from their bench.
Led by their heralded freshmen class of Thompson, Andre
Patterson and Ryan Walcott, along with Hines and T.J. Cummings,
UCLA's reserves outscored the Bruins' first unit 42-38.
Jason Kapono, the Bruins' leading scorer this season, had just 2
points -- 14 under his average.
"We went with our hockey substitution there for a while,"
Bruins coach Steve Lavin said. "Our young kids played with a lot
of energy."
Aaron Harper had 19 points and Justin Reed 14 to lead Ole Miss
(20-11), which was hoping a win over college basketball's most
storied program, might get it some national respect.
UCLA, though, had other plans. And maybe some bigger ones, too.
"We're going to go out swinging," Hines said.
With UCLA leading by 10, Knight opened the second half with a
3-pointer, and on the Bruins' next trip he drained another
long-range jumper.
After a steal, Knight couldn't stop smiling as he ran to the
same spot on the floor and pleaded for the ball. And almost as
quickly as Kapono hit him with a pass, Knight swished another 3 to
put the Bruins up by 19.
"I was in a slump the last four games," Knight said, who isn't
in one any longer. "My teammates were finding me and I just felt
it."
The Rebels, who shot just 34 percent, couldn't find the range
against UCLA's zone defense. Ole Miss couldn't hit, going 10-for-35
on 3-pointers. Guard Jason Harrison missed all nine of his attempts
behind the arc.
"I wanted to stay aggressive, I didn't want to have any regrets
when it was over," Harrison said.
Rebels coach Rod Barnes had no problem with his team continuing
to fire away.
"You can miss shots but you can't get beat in the transition
game and on free throws," he said. "We said if they played their
game it would be in their favor, and if we played our game, it
would be in our favor. Clearly, it was in their favor."
Unhappy with what he was getting from his starters, Lavin
benched all five and brought in his reserves midway through the
first half.
The kids responded as Thompson scored 10 points and Patterson
five in a 15-0 run that put UCLA up 28-13. Lavin nearly brought his
starters back during the spurt, but called them back from the
scorer's table when Thompson hit a short jumper.
Harper then went on a personal 9-0 run with three straight
3-pointers to bring the Rebels within two, but Knight hit a long 3
as the Bruins closed with an 8-0 burst to lead 36-26 at halftime.
The Bruins, who were ranked as high as No. 3 this season, then
opened the second half by scoring 13 straight, and coasted toward
an interesting second-round matchup with Cincinnati. | 
