Hofstra Hofstra/UCLA UCLA Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Dan Gadzuric had 14 points and 13 rebounds as he muscled his way to dominance over the smaller Pride players. Hofstra stayed in contention well into the second half, but the bigger, badder Bruins wore them down and cruised at the end.

More ...

UCLA needed a late run to avoid its third first-round NCAA Tournament upset in six years, beating Hofstra 61-48 Thursday in the East Regional.

The Bruins (22-8) trailed much of the second period, but closed with a 24-5 run after falling behind 43-37 with 12:59 remaining, snapping the nation's longest Division I winning streak at 18.

"The strength of this team is it's balance," UCLA coach Steve Lavin said after his club held the Pride without a basket over the final 9:12. "This is a throw back, old-school, blue-collar team. This team wins with chemistry. We manufacture wins."

One of the biggest plays down the stretch wasn't even a basket by the Bruins, but a diving save of a loose ball by Earl Watson with 6:37 to go. He called timeout as he fell head-first into the stands. The effort appeared to spark the Bruins.

"Our will to win was challenged by coach (at halftime) and we went out in the second half knowing that every stop was crucial," Watson said.


	UCLA's Matt Barnes, left, gets the dunk over Hofstra's Roberto Gittens during the first half of the Bruins' win Thursday.

It looked as if Hofstra (26-5) would join Princeton and Detroit as recent surprise first-round winners over UCLA. But the Pride lost their outside touch in the final 20 minutes after going 7-for-14 from long range to lead by four at the break.

"There is definitely more pressure in this game when you're the higher seed and you've got a team that's trying to control tempo," Hofstra coach Jay Wright said. "I think UCLA showed a lot of mental toughness. They were looking for that point where they could break us.

"I just think their patience showed. They are mentally tough."

Hofstra missed 13 of its final 14 shots and was 9-for-25 on 3-pointers to shoot 26 percent in the second half. The Pride also turned it over 21 times against UCLA's pressure defense.

UCLA, the No. 4 seed, will face 12th-seeded Utah State in the second round. The Aggies upset Ohio State 77-68 in overtime in the opener at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UCLA lost to Princeton 43-41 in 1996 in the opening round, and was upset again three years later, losing to Detroit 56-53. But this time, the Bruins shook of a bad start and closed strong to advance despite scoring a season-low 61 points.

"Sometimes we don't force a lot of turnovers early or you don't see the tangible effects of the press, but there is a wearing factor," Lavin said. "So, late in the game, there will be a flurry of baskets we get and that's because of fatigue. Sometimes we surprise ourselves."

Watson kept the Bruins in the game in the first half, making all six of his shots for 13 of his 15 points. Bruins center Dan Gadzuric came up big late, scoring eight of his 14 points during the final run. He also added 13 rebounds, while Billy Knight led UCLA with 17 points.

Rick Apodaca led the Pride with 16 points, but he committed eight turnovers.

Hofstra hit just 11 of 36 3-pointers in winning last week's America East tourney, but was hot from there in the opening 20 minutes.

UCLA was up 21-14 and looked like its size and quickness was going to be too much, but the Pride went on a 16-4 run and got the crowd behind them as the half wore on.

Things got worse for the Bruins 43.5 seconds before halftime when Gadzuric picked up his third foul on a silly reach in. But he ended up being one of the UCLA heroes.

Jason Hernandez, Apodaca and Norman Richardson combined for 31 of Hofstra's 33 first-half points as the Pride couldn't work the ball inside and remained content with gunning from the outside.

"Winning a game like this can give you a false sense of security, but I really think we're going to use this and start rolling," UCLA's Matt Barnes said.

Send this story to a friend

ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Hofstra Clubhouse

UCLA Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
audio
Steve Lavin credits UCLA's chemistry for its ability to manufacture wins.
wav: 271 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

Earl Watson and the Bruins stepped it up after being faced with an opening-round challenge.
wav: 189 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

Hofstra coach Jay Wright is not happy with the Pride's execution in the second half.
wav: 85 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6