Kevin Love wowed the 200 or so fans that came to the Honda Center on Wednesday by scoring a basket with a two-handed chest pass from the opposite end of the court. Love then did a four-corner bow, the consummate showman appreciating his fans.
He is also a freshman, unburdened by UCLA's NCAA journeys of the last two years when the Bruins advanced through the tournament into the Final Four but didn't return home with a 12th national championship banner.
The Bruins (31-3), seeded No. 1 in the NCAA West Regional, begin the win-or-go-home portion of the season tonight with a game against 16th-seeded Mississippi Valley State (17-15) in the last of four games at Anaheim's Honda Center. In the history of the tournament No. 16-seeded teams are 0-92.
On Wednesday UCLA players were involved in speaking about what will make the next three weeks successful. "Getting to the Final Four is definitely a good accomplishment," Shipp said, "but we won't be happy with that. For us to be happy with this season, a championship is what we want."
It was Love's play at practice, including his 25 or 30 attempts to make that full-court chest-pass shot, that may have provided the most compelling evidence the rest of the Bruins won't be disappointed.
Love had pulled a muscle in his back last Saturday during UCLA's 67-64 win over Stanford in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament championship game. Combined with the sprained ankle starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute suffered against USC last Friday, there has been concern about whether the Bruins could physically handle the grind of playing over three weekends.
"My back is fine," Love said. "I'm out there dunking with two hands, pulling my right arm back, my back's not tugging. I jumped way higher than a credit card." After the Stanford game Love had said he couldn't elevate as high as a credit card.
Mbah a Moute said he was "still questionable" for today's game, pointing to the swollen lump on his left ankle and calling himself 75%. Howland, though, said the junior forward, who is UCLA's second-leading rebounder, would start. "He's not completely 100% but he's close," Howland said. "He's going to play tomorrow. Yes, he'll start."
