COACH: Ben Howland, eight years at UCLA, six years in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: At-large bid.
GO-TO GUYS: Sophomore F Reeves Nelson is generally a high-energy workhorse, but does an occasional disappearing act, as he did during a scoreless first half in the Pac-10 tournament loss to Oregon. When he's fully focused, he plays at a ferocious pace and makes the Bruins much better. Junior G Malcolm Lee has emerged as a consistent perimeter threat after two inconsistent seasons. And sophomore F Tyler Honeycutt, although he doesn't always play to his significant potential, is a versatile and skilled 6-foot-8 wing who can be a tough matchup. All three of them earned first-team all-Pac-10 honors.
X FACTOR: Freshman C Joshua Smith can be a nightmare for opposing teams, but he must stay on the floor. Prone to fouls, the 6-foot-10, 305-pounder (probably bigger) has good hands, solid skills and understands the game. When he's on the floor and in a rhythm, he can score in the paint and following offensive rebounds. He is adept at creating space for himself and almost impossible to stop once he gets the ball under the basket. But his endurance isn't good and he picks up more than his share of silly fouls. He entered the Pac-10 tournament with 93 personal fouls.
STRENGTHS: Ben Howland has sculpted the Bruins into a very solid defensive team. They allowed just 65.5 points per game through the regular season. UCLA doesn't pressure much, but plays strong position defense and rebound well off the defensive boards. They're a solid rebounding team, with a plus-4.7 margin through the regular season. When they're hitting the boards, the Bruins can score quickly in transition. They have big-time talent with as many as three players -- Honeycutt, Lee and Smith -- who eventually will be NBA draft picks.
WEAKNESSES: UCLA is a poor perimeter shooting team, ranked second-to-last in the Pac-10 in 3-point accuracy at .320 in conference play. Junior college transfer Lazeric "Zeke" Jones arrived to solidify a shaky point guard situation and he has been serviceable, but hardly a star. And the Bruins still are susceptible to occasional stints where their high-end talent doesn't seem quite focused in, where they merely expect to win but don't deliver the kind of performance necessary to make that happen. It's not a regular problem by any means, but even a hint of it in the NCAA tournament could be trouble.
