UCLA survives (game time change)

Phew! take a deep breath, exhale, relax, a win is a win is a win; move on to the round of 32. Keep in mind that American was up by 14 on the 'Nova with 10 to play and fell apart at the end. We can beat that team too. Go Bruins!!

Wrong again, President Obama.

Howland must play the reserves more or we'll keep getting caught near the end. The Bruins looked spent at the end of the game. Anderson looked very much the freshman so I would have put Jrue at the point and Lee playing the two to guard Maynor.

This would have been a horrible way for Collison to end his Bruin career. Jrue had a good game and Josh pretty much carried the team. I think Josh and Dragovich combined for over 20 rebounds (although they lacked the energy near the end of the game) that was the key to the Bruins pulling out the victory.

eff...that was too close.

Survive and advance. Nobody has been able to answer this question for four days; how does an 11 seed get a freakin' home game? How does Utah and Illinois get a 5 seed? Take it to 'Nova.

Ugh, 10 am, kids baseball game!

Collison couldn't buy a basket most of the game. It appeared Jrue played some point in the 2nd half and he looked tremendous - especially on penetration drives. That position seems to allow him to really show his talent, unlike the wing.

Why didn't Howland put Lee in? Was he injured? or is Howland just too stubborn. Lee is our best on ball defender and he could've given Maynor trouble.

Stressful game. Let's bounce back against Nova. Go Bruins.

OC John you are correct. I really think when Jrue plays the point, it allows him to shine. I hope next year (if he stays) he plays point instead of the 2. I don't know though, Howland might play Anderson.

I think Howland should take the team for a light jog tomorrow morning up those Philadelphia Museum Stairs as if they were Rocky Balboa, the ultimate underdog, preparing for a heavyweight fight Saturday morning against the Villanova Apollo Creeds.

It's a win... but it didn't really give me much confidence in the team.

Coach Howland is great, but I don't understand why he put DC on Maynor for the whole game. Maynor is a star which means he will get his defender into foul trouble. Howland should have mixed it up against Maynor. Start Jrue on him, then Malcolm Lee, and DC in spurts. UCLA has good on ball defenders in Lee and Holiday, so there is not need to get DC in foul trouble.

Howland obviously has his decisions...and I do trust him...but I wonder why he didn't put the athletic Malcolm Lee on Maynor for guarding purposes.

I'm tired of hearing the Maynor talk. Next!

Go Bruins! View from Washington is that you should have been higher than a 6 seed, and you definitely got the short end of the stick having to play back east. I am not an expert on all things UCLA -- but holding off VCU at the end showed heart and tournament savvy. Now, go knock off Villanova in the round of 32 and send Collison, Jrue, et al to the Sweet 16. Go PAC 10!

I would have liked to see some ML out there too, but I think he does not want to have JH and ML out there at the same time in tight games. This is where I wish BH has gotten more playing time for Jerime and Malcom earlier in the year as many of their errors are due to inexperience.

Hey where are all the trolls?

Collison needs to get his groove back. He looks unconfident. Walk the Walk, stop talking the talk. He has another huge test on Saturday against a stud PG. Come on DC, show us what you got!

They have to give Lee a chance. What did Anderson have, 4 turnovers in 5 minutes of play or so? The games I've been too that he's been exposed in, he blames other players by yelling at them. Suck it up and learn to improve. Put in Lee for Collison and let Jrue play point.

Bruins should have put this team away earlier. Collison needs to step up or sit down. Going to him on every possession at the end of the game nearly ended in disaster. Don't we have any other plays at the end of the game to set up maybe our best offensive player--Shipp?

Best decision of the game was to pick up full court at the end of the game. This used up valuable seconds and left Maynor in a difficult spot at the end. Props to Collison for staying down and not giving him a cheap foul.

UCLA is not playing to their potential. If they start doing so they can make some noise.

Jrue showed flashes of how good he can be when he took point, but I still thought he was hurried too much. We had a double digit lead. The clock was our ally. Jrue didn't need to drive the lanes so early. It led to turnovers and lots of missed shots. It also allowed VCU to run once they rebounded and didn't allow our defense to set, which brought them back in the game. Slow your role Jrue and you'll be fine. At the end of the day, great effort Bruins. Let's take down 'Nova and make some noise.

Go Bruins!!!

keys to the game:

1) bruins broke the full court press with ease and poise all game, best execution of it all season

2) howland had his nice blue pinstripe suit on, and didnt even take off the jacket all game...hes getting some lavin/riley flash and is gonna start slicking back his hair...not LOL

3) holiday had some rough edges but getting valuable experience, this is his launching pad game

4) aboya is finally getting comfortable playing in front of his parents, they were supposed to watch the tourney im guessing they still are

5) DC bay-bee. we live and die by his leadership. the last shot maynor stoppage was sweeeeeeet

thank you Jesus! GO BRUINS!!

My sphincter hasn't unpuckered yet and neither has theirs. We have the talent to beat anyone, anytime and any place! They need to regain that swagger and remember that!

I was at the game. Maybe 300 bruins strong. Jrue was spectacular. Best player on the floor. The refs called the game really close. Lots of ticky tack calls. Hopefully they'll let us play on Saturday.

Brian,

What do you think about the ref's not letting them play. Calling all of these brush fouls on Holiday. Then calling a phantom foul on Collison's 2nd, (Maynor's drive to basket for 3 pt. play). Then Shipp getting hammered on a drive to the basket!!

Then how about at the end of the game when Maynor was holding onto Collison before the ball was in bounded right in front of the ref.

Am I being a biased Bruin fan or did you see the same things.

Wow, VCU is not a 11 seed, more like a 7-8. Fouls were a pain to watch, but if anything, I think it disrupted VCU game, and they missed a bunch of FTs. I'm just happy that our guys toughed it out and proved stupid Seth Davis and Greg Anthony wrong. I hate those guys!

Man, I almost, ALMOST turned the TV off. I just couldn't handle watching. That was a crazy game. As to Lee not playing, I'm sure it was for a good reason. Howland has pulled Holiday out of games and put Lee in for the very reason that he knows how good Lee's D is. I'm confident we'll see him and a hopefully 100% Gordon on Saturday. Holiday looked good, though he was letting the refs constant calls frustrate him. Collison's D was great. You could see Maynor on the bench at times just sucking air and looking exhausted. But man, VCU ain't no joke!!! Despite a few lapses, the Defensive effort was much better tonight. Now if we can just get both the D and the O working together. We'll be better on Saturday with Lee's D and Gordon's shot blocking (SHOT BLOCKING! Not BLOCK SHOTTING!!! Geeeez). At any rate, a win's a win. I'll take it.

What was the original start time for game 2 going to be? Seems the Bruins are getting hosed every way they can. The 1pm ET start is the earliest of the day, and is 10AM for the Bruins. You would think it would be a 6pm ET start.