FIRST LOOK

UCLA AT A GLANCE

* Regional seeding: Fourth

* Bid: At-large

* Tournament record: 81-29

* Last NCAA appearance: 2000, lost to Iowa State in round of 16.

* Coach: Steve Lavin

* Scoring leaders: Jason Kapono 17.7, Earl Watson 14.6, Matt Barnes 13.7, Dan Gadzuric 11.6.

* Rebound leaders: Gadzuric 8.2, Barnes 7.2, Kapono 5.9.

* Assist leader: Watson 4.6.

* Three-point basket leaders: Kapono 76, Watson 36, Billy Knight 35.

* Last 10 games: 8-2

HOFSTRA AT A GLANCE

* Nickname: Pride

* Regional seeding: 13th

* Bid: America East Conference champion

* Tournament record: 0-3

* Last NCAA appearance: 2000 (lost to Oklahoma State in the first round).

* Coach: Jay Wright.

* Scoring leaders: Norman Richardson 16.8, Jason Hernandez 12.1, Rick Apodaca 12.0, Roberto Gittens 10.7.

* Rebound leaders: Greg Springfield 7.4, Gittens 6.9, Richardson 6.0.

* Assist leaders: Hernandez 3.9.

* Three-point basket leaders: Hernandez 47, Apodaca 41, Richardson 40.

* Last 10 games: 10-0

POSITION BY POSITION

* FORWARD: Jason Kapono is one of the best shooters in the country and has gotten more involved in UCLA’s offense the past two games. Matt Barnes is the team’s most improved player and has developed an effective power move to the basket. Hofstra’s Norman Richardson, last season’s conference player of the year, plays well with his back to the basket and can knock down shots from behind the arc.

* CENTER: When he stays out of foul trouble, Dan Gadzuric is a force inside. He finished second in the Pacific 10 Conference in rebounding, third in shot blocking (2.06) and seventh in field-goal percentage (52.3%). Greg Springfield, who stands 6-9, doesn’t take many shots for Hofstra, but he’s good from short range, as his 61.9% shooting suggests.

* GUARD: Earl Watson is the unquestioned leader of the Bruins. He will tie Don MacLean’s school record Thursday with his 127th start. He said he plans to pull teammates aside this week if he feels the Bruins “aren’t on the same page.” Point guard Jason Hernandez took over for former Hofstra star Speedy Claxton did an admirable job this season.

* COACHING: UCLA’s Steve Lavin is at his best when things are at their worst. The Bruins are coming off a demoralizing loss to Washington and need to recapture their confidence. Lavin has taken his teams to three Sweet 16s, but he and the Bruins cannot afford an encore of the Detroit Mercy loss. Hofstra’s Jay Wright has coached his team to 18 consecutive victories, the longest winning streak in Division I.

* THE PICK: Hofstra will have a hard time coping with UCLA’s size in the low post. The Pride likes to run, and it does a good job of playing defense. The Bruins tend to abandon their defense when they get into the transition game--and that could be a problem for them.

UCLA ROSTER

*--*

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. 1 Jason Flowers G 6-1 185 Sr. 3 Billy Knight G 6-5 210 Jr. 10 Ryan Walcott G 6-2 175 Fr. 11 Todd Ramasar G 6-5 204 Jr. 15 Ryan Mollins G 6-5 180 Fr. 21 Ryan Bailey G 6-2 207 Sr. 22 Rico Hines G 6-4 217 Sr. 23 Matt Barnes F 6-7 230 Jr. 24 Jason Kapono F 6-7 199 So. 25 Earl Watson G 6-1 190 Sr. 34 Ray Young G 6-3 210 Jr. 43 T.J. Cummings F 6-9 205 Fr. 44 Brandon Brooks F 6-6 225 So. 50 Dan Gadzuric C 6-11 248 Jr. 52 John Hoffart C 6-10 255 So. 54 Josiah Johnson F 6-8 200 Fr.

*--*

HOFSTRA ROSTER

*--*

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. 3 Greg Springfield F-C 6-9 235 Sr. 4 Roberto Gittens F 6-7 240 Sr. 11 Joel Suarez G 6-0 175 Fr. 12 Jason Hernandez G 6-0 190 Sr. 13 Jeff Fox G 5-10 165 Sr. 20 Abdou Sylla F-C 6-8 225 Sr. 21 Norman Richardson F-G 6-5 200 Sr. 22 Rick Apodaca G 6-3 190 So. 23 Danny Walker F 6-6 205 So. 24 Michael Radziejewsk G 6-5 195 Fr. 31 Osei Millar F 6-7 230 Jr. 32 Lars Grubler C 6-11 270 So. 42 Mike Feeley F-G 6-6 220 Jr. 43 Marc Petit F-C 6-8 225 Jr.

*--*

LOGS

UCLA

**Kansas: L 99-98

**Kentucky: W 97-92 (OT)

vs. CS Northridge: L 78-74

vs. Santa Barbara: W 83-77

*Georgia Tech: L 72-67

vs. Hawaii: W 84-64

vs. UC Irvine: W 65-60

vs. North Carolina: L 80-70

at Purdue: W 87-82

vs. Washington: W 86-64

vs. Washington St. : W 75-57

vs. USC: W 80-75

vs. Villanova: W 93-65

at Arizona St: W 91-83

at Arizona: L 88-63

vs. Oregon St: W 67-40

vs. Oregon: W 98-88

at California: L 92-63

at Stanford: W 79-73

at USC: W 85-76

at DePaul: W 94-88

vs. Arizona: W 79-77 (OT)

vs. Arizona St.: W 73-68

at Oregon: W 88-73

at Oregon St.: W 68-65

vs. California: W 79-75

vs. Stanford: L 85-79

at Washington St.: W 86-76

at Washington: L 96-94

** at New York

* at Arrowhead Pond

*

HOFSTRA

Northern Illinois: W 81-57

Florida Int: W 78-50

at Fla. Atlantic: W 87-67

at Stony Brook: W 72-60

Delaware: L 79-74

Drexel: W 69-62

at Iona: L 61-60

at St. Johns: W 86-80

Rutgers: W 58-52

Penn St: L 74-71

Towson: W 80-54

at Boston U: L 74-70

at Northeastern: W 72-65

Manhattan: W 57-43

at Hartford: W 53-47

at Vermont: W 74-69

New Hampshire: W 75-70

Maine: W 67-62 (OT)

Northeastern: W 94-70

Boston U: W 77-56

at Towson: W 79-58

at Delaware: W 68-55

Vermont: W 73-60

Hartford: W 73-54

at Maine: W 89-83

at New Hampshire: W 80-61

at Drexel: W 78-70

*Vermont: W 68-55

*Maine: W 78-66

*Delaware: W 68-54

* tournament