Go Bruins

下午去学校打球，parking lot挤爆了，4号爆满只好去了7号。一问才知道原来下午是ucla vs. stanford，ncaa pac-10 basketball。大部分观众是已经毕业的校友，很多人拖家带口而来。看到大家兴高采烈像过年一样，我也心痒痒的，到门口转悠了一下，没有人转让票的。想着看下一场好了。

后来在wooden center看电视直播，镜头扫过，体育馆内爆满，气氛相当热烈。我看了一会儿开头就打球去了，然后出来看完了最后十分钟，聚集在那里看电视的人也很多。我军一直领先十分以上，因此也没什么悬念，大家都很高兴。最后一分钟基本上是垃圾时间，馆内有些人提前退场。我还在想着下周去买票，这时电视上打出来几行字幕：9 Bruins teams finished perfectly at Pauley Pavlion (7 of them won National Championships)。原来今天是这个赛季最后一个主场。接下来还有两个客场然后就要开始再次冲全国冠军了。今年想再看主场是没戏了。看了报道原来这是32年来第一次主场满分。现在是10th，希望下次看到就是8 of them了。

上赛季最后功亏一篑，不过打到决赛已经出乎很多人的意料了。那天我是我第一次进Pauley Pavlion，虽然看的不是现场而是和几千人一起看大屏幕直播。希望这个赛季能够得赏所愿。下午比赛完了我去了一趟ucla store，里面也是人山人海，基本上只有以前打折的时候可以相比。都是看完球之后去买队服之类纪念品的校友们。想起今天打球的一个新生问我：how do you think about your ucla experience? 答案显而易见。

Go Bruins!

http://ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/gamecenter/recap/NCAAB_20070224_STAN@UCLA

No. 4 UCLA closes out first undefeated home season in 32 years

Feb. 24, 2007

CBS SportsLine.com wire reports



LOS ANGELES -- Only Arron Afflalo knows whether he has played his final home game at UCLA, and he isn't telling.

Afflalo scored 20 points, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute added 11 and the fourth-ranked Bruins defeated Stanford 75-61 to close out their first undefeated home season in 32 years Saturday.

In the final seconds, 12,001 fans chanted "One more year!" at Afflalo, a junior who entered the NBA draft last April before withdrawing.

"I heard them," he said, smiling. "It's good to have that support and I appreciate it. I'm just happy to be in the moment right now."

And there was several important moments Saturday.

The Bruins (25-3, 14-2 Pac-10) clinched at least a share of the Pac-10 title for the second consecutive year. They wrap up the regular season next week at the Washington schools.

"It's only a share," Afflalo said. "You want to win outright and you do that by playing as hard as you can against the next team. We understand the importance of every game now."

UCLA is 20-0 at Pauley Pavilion dating to last season, including 16-0 this season. The 1974-75 team, which won coach John Wooden's 10th and final NCAA championship, also was perfect at home.

"That's exciting to go through the whole year and hold your home court," coach Ben Howland said. "It's hard to do. Everyone is coming in giving us their best shot."

This year's team, which had no seniors to honor at the last home game, became the 10th in school history to go undefeated in the arena's 41-year history. Among the previous nine, eight advanced to the Final Four and seven won the national championship.

Afflalo has spoken often of his desire to leave a mark at UCLA, and he helped do so on a day Wooden and members of the 1967 national championship team, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Warren, were honored at halftime.

"It's good to go undefeated at home," Afflalo said. "Our fans deserve it."

UCLA led all the way, although not by more than six points in the first half against a team that handed the Bruins one of their three road losses. In that defeat, UCLA blew a 17-point lead.

Stanford (17-10, 9-7) was led by Brook Lopez with 23 points and nine rebounds and Lawrence Hill added 13. The Cardinal, which had 16 turnovers, has lost four of six.

Guard Anthony Goods, who had 20 points in Stanford's earlier win over UCLA, missed his fourth consecutive game because of a high ankle sprain.

"I don't like to make excuses, but Anthony is important to our team," Cardinal coach Trent Johnson said. "We had some ill-advised turnovers. They (the Bruins) had a lot of energy."

UCLA stretched a three-point lead at the break into its largest lead of the game, 53-40, on a 17-7 run that opened the final 20 minutes. Afflalo launched the spurt with a 3-pointer, Mbah a Moute hit a 3 and dunked off Josh Shipp's steal before Russell Westbrook closed it out with a 3.

The Bruins' defense swarmed Stanford in the second half, and on one occasion when they lost the ball, they outhustled the Cardinal to grab it right back.

The Cardinal gained a bit of momentum with an 11-7 run that cut its deficit to 60-51 with 7:16 remaining. Robin Lopez, Brook's 7-foot twin, had four points in Stanford's only serious run of the half.

UCLA quickly pushed its lead back to double digits, getting 3-pointers from Michael Roll and Afflalo to stay ahead 69-56.

Stanford used a full-court press in the final three minutes, but the Bruins passed through it and moved the ball around to kill the clock, forcing the Cardinal to foul.