You wanted it, you got it: Zags-Bruins

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 23, 2006 | by Jeff Faraudo, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- It's the game of the NCAA tournament so far.

And it's here. Tonight.

Second-seeded UCLA (29-6) vs. No. 3 Gonzaga (29-3) is more than the nightcap in the Oakland regional doubleheader tonight at the Arena.

This is college basketball's old money vs. the new kids on the block.

It's GQ vs. Field and Stream.

The freeways of L.A. vs. the open spaces in the region of eastern Washington known as the Palouse.

The program that has won 11 national titles vs. the one trying to stake its claim as best in the West.

A defense that mangles opponents vs. the mustachioed gunslinger who leads the nation in scoring.

Jordan Farmar's sprained left wrist vs. Adam Morrison's bout with the flu.

It's the game everyone wanted.

Nah.

"The thing about the game (tonight) is whoever wins gets to move on in the tournament," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, refusing to get all tingly about the many enticing subplots. "That's far and away the biggest thing about this game."

OK, maybe West Coast supremacy doesn't rate with a chance to play Saturday with the Final Four on the line.

The Zags, making their eighth straight trip to the NCAAs, still are seeking their first Final Four berth. While Gonzaga is averaging nearly 27 victories in seven seasons underFew, its fans are becoming a bit jaded, the surest sign the program has gone big-time. They want more.

It's a source of some irritation to Few, who said hometown fans made a big deal last week about the team getting through its second- round game, a stumbling block three years in a row. When asked about the source of the grumbling, Few suggested "boredom."

Wins over Xavier and Indiana in Salt Lake City last weekend leave Gonzaga two steps shy of Indianapolis.

"They've had great success," UCLA senior center Ryan Hollins said. "I don't know if I'd want to call them the best (in the West). We can't think about that at all. Winning in the tournament, that's what matters."

The Bruins have won their past nine games, capturing both the Pac- 10 regular-season and tournament titles. But this is UCLA in resurgent mode, not to be confused with the machine that won 10 NCAA titles in 12 years under John Wooden.

The Bruins haven't been to the Final Four since 1996, when they used the Oakland Regional as a springboard to their most recent national title. This is their best team since, but the program is just three years removed from the 10-19 disaster that was coach Steve Lavin's final season.

Now in his third year, coach Ben Howland has people glancing back at the good old days.

"UCLA is definitely on the rise and coming on fast, really establishing themselves now back to the UCLA days of old, of being a real powerhouse," Few said.

All the key players should be at or near their best when the teams collide tonight. Morrison, the nation's top scorer at 28.2 points per game, apparently has beaten back the flu. And Farmar, the Bruins' sophomore point guard, said he is not bothered by the brace he will wear to protect his left wrist.

At the heart of the matchup is how well UCLA can bottle up Morrison. The Zags demonstrated last weekend the 6-foot-8 forward is hardly a one-man team -- he scored just 14 points in the 90-80 win over Indiana.

But Morrison remains the focal point of every opposing defense.

"He's a great player," Howland said. "He can score in so many ways. He poses a lot of problems. There are only a handful of people that are playing the game in college that would even be talked about in that same light."

The Bruins are expected to start out with sophomore Arron Afflalo, a 6-5 guard, matched against Morrison. Whatever the Bruins do, it won't be anything the Gonzaga star hasn't already seen.

"I've seen triangle-and-two, box-and-one, face-guarding, beat- the-crap out-of-me -- I've seen everything," Morrison said.

"It's not just about me. Wins are the most important thing. I don't care how many points I score in this tournament, I just want to win."

In other words, to heck with the subplots.