By VICTORIA SUN
Special to FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
March 2, 2011
When the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed on March 13, UCLA figures to be one of the basketball squads selected to be in the newly expanded 68-team field.
Heading into the team's final two regular-season Pac-10 games, starting with a Thursday night matchup at Washington, the Bruins (21-8, 12-4) have won eight of their past nine games to tie Arizona for first place in the conference . The string of victories include an impressive drubbing of the then-No. 10 Wildcats in UCLA's final game at historic Pauley Pavilion before the house that John Wooden built shuts down next season for a complete makeover.
Then there are the Bruins' nonconference victories against surprise Big East juggernaut St. John's, led by former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, and Mountain West powerhouse BYU, led by national player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette.
"At the beginning of the season, I definitely expected to be in the tournament and win a lot of games with the players that we had, so I thought we'd be at this point," said hulking sophomore forward Reeves Nelson, who leads the Bruins with averages of 14 points and nine rebounds per game.
Were it not for the other 16 young men wearing blue-and-gold jerseys who shared the same sentiment, Reeves might have been the only one who believed the Bruins would be in this position based on what transpired early in the season.
Though UCLA was picked to finish third in the Pac-10 in the preseason media poll and expected to rebound after a miserable 14-18 campaign in 2009-10, the Bruins stumbled through November.
When matched up against then-No. 7 Villanova in Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-off, the Bruins failed to capitalize on the opportunity and lost to the Wildcats. Immediately after came a defeat to Virginia Commonwealth followed by a respectable 77-76 loss at then-No. 4 Kansas. Next was a humbling 66-57 loss to Montana at Pauley Pavilion that dropped UCLA to 3-4 and raised fears of another miserable season.
But despite the grumblings of fans and media, sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt, like Nelson, wasn't concerned.
"I knew we had a much better team, and I knew our chemistry was better," said Honeycutt, who is averaging 12.8 points per game and is second on the team with 7.4 rebounds per game. "It was just a matter of getting used to each other and knowing our roles on the team.
"I knew we were more athletic, more talented, and by being able to play man this season instead of zone, I knew we'd be a better defensive team."
UCLA leads the Pac-10 with 5.8 blocks per game, ranks third in scoring defense, third in field-goal percentage defense and second in rebounding margin.
The additions of space-eating 6-foot-10 freshman center Joshua Smith, tough junior-college transfer Lazeric "Zeek" Jones at point guard and defensive terror Tyler Lamb on the wing gave Honeycutt hope that the Bruins could develop into a good team.
After Smith shed some pounds off his massive frame, he developed into a reliable go-to post player with great hands, a good touch and ability to explode. Smith is third on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game and fourth in scoring with 10.8 points per game.
"Josh being one of the biggest centers in the country, I definitely knew that he was going to help," Honeycutt said. "He just had to get his body right, 'cause he's a force on the inside and practically unguardable."
Jones ranks fifth in the league in free-throw percentage (81.6 percent), ninth in 3-point field-goal percentage (39.1 percent) and eighth in assists with 3.7 per game. The 6-5 Lamb has become a top reserve by hounding opponents.
Above all, Reeves believes the newcomers have breathed new life into the team.
"They have helped us out just by bringing energy," he said. "They weren't here last year, so they're expecting to win every game so that's rubbed off on us returning players.
"I think that we just feed off each other."
So to get through the 3-4 start, the players relied on a healthy dose of optimism, remained confident in one another despite doubters and banked on the fact that the extra time the returning players spent in the weight room, shooting hundreds of shots and spending all hours of the night playing pickup during the summer would pay off.
"We just knew that we didn't want a repeat of last year and knew that it would take a lot of hard work to get there," Nelson said. "I think we stayed confident and just knew it was a matter of getting experience with each other on the court."
Whether the Bruins bow out early or win a few games in the Big Dance remains to be seen, but Honeycutt just hopes the team gets there.
Having grown up in Southern California and followed UCLA's storied program, Honeycutt didn't expect his road to the NCAA tournament would be delayed.
"I want to get there bad," Honeycutt said. "Last year was very embarrassing.
"When I came to the school, I didn't expect to have a year like that. When I committed, they had gone to three Final Fours and were ranked No. 1.
"Now we are the underdog, we don't get as much hype, a lot of people still doubt us. We know what we're capable of."
