UCLA head coach Ben Howland was all tears, done in by the sheer emotion of the occasion.
His players were all smiles, simply elated because of a tremendous performance.
One grinned bigger, though, because of both.
The final basket in the current Pauley Pavilion was dropped in off the glass by John Wooden’s great-grandson Tyler Trapani, and he basked in the attention of the post-game press conference, seemingly enjoying the talk about UCLA’s win more than his own shot.
And what a win it was.
UCLA thoroughly dismantled No. 10 Arizona on Saturday, 71-49, to tie for the Pac-10 lead at 12-4 with two games to play.
In playing their most complete game of the season, the Bruins shook off an eary three-point deficit with a 33-11 run that stretched nearly 20 minutes.
That’s when Reeves Nelson took over.
Nelson had a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds and played sensational defense on Derrick Williams, after telling Howland he wanted the mano-a-mano matchup after UCLA’s win over Arizona State on Thursday.
Williams had 15 points but only two in the second half as the Wildcats shot just 25 percent in the half, 31.5 percent for the game.
When it wasn’t Nelson doing the dirty work, it was Joshua Smith and Tyler Honeyutt. Smith had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Honeycutt added 15, including eight early points.