No Jinx As Bruins Roll By 36 Florida International Perfect Opponent To Help Ucla Shake Recent Reputation
Highest seed vs. lowest seed, best record vs. worst record. Any way you looked at it, the UCLA-Florida International game looked like a mismatch.
That’s exactly what it turned out to be.
UCLA, the top-seeded team in the West Regional, had an easy time in a 92-56 victory over FIU on Friday night in the first round. The top-ranked Bruins (26-2) ran their way to a 14th straight victory, often dunking at will against the slower and undermanned Golden Panthers.
In doing so, UCLA moved one step closer to shedding its recent reputation for losing early in the NCAA Tournament. In the last five years, UCLA had lost three times in either the first or second rounds, including a 112-102 loss to Tulsa in the opening round last season.
The win over Florida International was UCLA’s largest margin of victory since a 90-52 victory over Santa Clara in the 1969 West Regional championship game on the Bruins’ home court. That year, UCLA won its fifth national championship under John Wooden.
UCLA’s goal was to hold the Panthers under 40 points, but coach Jim Harrick decided he’d rather clear his bench.
“I’ve been in the game a long time and I’m very conscious about not embarrassing anyone,” he said. “I wanted to play a lot of people to reward them for the season. Every guy on our team has made us better.
The Panthers had watched UCLA on film, but that was no preparation for what they encountered.
“You can’t appreciate it until you’re trying to run down the floor and catch them. It’s relentless,” Panthers coach Bob Weltlich said. “It wasn’t that they didn’t want to get back, it wasn’t that they didn’t try to get back, it’s just that you’re not ready for that.”
A 3-pointer by Matt Tchir tied the game at 7 before UCLA took over and dominated the rest of the way.
“We wish it would’ve ended right there,” said James Mazyck, the only Florida International player in double figures with 21 points. “We kept making the mistake of not getting back on defense.”
The Panthers (11-19) trailed by 23 in the first half and their 23 points at the break were a season-low by a UCLA opponent.
The final score matched UCLA’s largest lead.
The easy win gave Harrick a chance to rest seniors Ed O’Bannon, Tyus Edney and George Zidek in preparation for the second-round game Sunday against eighth-seeded Missouri. The Tigers (20-8) defeated Indiana 65-60.
O’Bannon, Edney and Zidek all left the game for good with 15:27 remaining and UCLA ahead 53-26.
“I respect Jim Harrick for playing everybody when it started to get out of hand,” Weltlich said. “We just did the best we could. It wasn’t good enough, and isn’t going to be good enough tomorrow and probably wouldn’t be good enough next week.”
“We’re playing with about seven guys and did they have 400 tonight? How many guys did they have?” Weltlich said.
Freshman J.R. Henderson led UCLA with 16 points, Charles O’Bannon added 14 and Ed O’Bannon and Johnson had 10 each.
FLA. INTERNATIONAL (11-19)
Forbes 2-9 2-4 6, Mazyck 5-11 10-14 21, Eason 2-8 0-1 4, Tchir 1-4 2-2 5, Dozier 4-10 0-0 8, Davis 3-8 0-0 7, Eathorne 0-1 0-0 0, J.Johnson 0-1 1-2 1, Allen 1-3 0-0 2, L.Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Pimburton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 15-23 56.
UCLA (26-2)
C.O’Bannon 7-9 0-0 14, E.O’Bannon 4-6 1-1 10, Zidek 4-8 0-0 8, Edney 2-5 4-4 8, Bailey 3-5 0-1 7, Dollar 2-3 1-2 5, Myers 1-2 2-2 4, Nwankwo 3-5 0-0 6, Henderson 8-12 0-0 16, K.Johnson 5-8 0-1 10, Givens 1-2 0-0 2, Dempsey 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 41-68 8-11 92.
Halftime-UCLA 43, Fla. International 23. 3-Point goals-Fla. International 3-17 (Tchir 1-3, Mazyck 1-3, Davis 1-6, Eathorne 0-1, J.Johnson 0-1, Dozier 0-3), UCLA 2-7 (Bailey 1-2, E.O’Bannon 1-3, Edney 0-1, Dempsey 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Fla. International 26 (Forbes 7), UCLA 47 (E.O’Bannon 8). Assists-Fla. International 12 (Mazyck, Dozier 4), UCLA 17 (Edney 8). Total fouls-Fla. International 13, UCLA 21. A-11,863.
xxxx West Regional Friday’s games Utah 76, Long Beach State 64 Mississippi State 75, Santa Clara 67 Missouri 65, Indiana 60 UCLA 92, Florida Int. 56 Today’s games Cincinnati (22-11) vs. UConn (26-4) Texas (23-6) vs. Maryland (25-7)