Bruins Will Try to Shoot the Lights Out Today

The Midwest Regional can be a cold and nasty place, and even though the Bruins won Thursday night, they discovered a piece of frigid Michigan reality a few hours later--and into the afternoon.

A severe ice storm took out the power, heat and the hot water in UCLA’s suburban Detroit hotel, leaving the Bruins shivering in darkness and without shower options.

“It’s appropriate for our whole season,” Coach Steve Lavin said with a broad smile Friday afternoon. Though the Bruins had been told the power would be back up by 5 p.m., they wound up leaving their hotel and checking into another hotel.

“I was sitting in my room, looking out the window, and the only light was the lightning outside,” J.R. Henderson said. “When the power went out for good, guys came out in the hallways, trying to figure out what was happening. It was weird, looking out and seeing all those nasty-looking icicles.”

Lavin said the coaching staff did get through some videotape scouting work on today’s second-round opponent, Xavier, during the blackout with battery power.--TIM KAWAKAMI

Also

Steve Alford, coach at Southwest Missouri State the last two seasons and a former All-Big Ten guard at Indiana, told the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch he’s interested in the coaching opening at Ohio State. Randy Ayers was fired after Ohio State’s 10-17 season. . . . Lefty Driesell, fired as James Madison’s coach last week, is being considered for the coaching position at Georgia State.