SCOUTING REPORT

STARTING LINEUPS

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UCLA Pos. UTAH ST. 24 Jason Kapono Forward 22 Curtis Bobb 23 Matt Barnes Forward 42 Shawn Daniels 50 Dan Gadzuric Center 14 Dimitri Jorssen 3 Billy Knight Guard 31 Tony Brown 25 Earl Watson Guard 10 Bernard Rock

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KEY RESERVES

UCLA

34 Ray Young: G

21 Ryan Bailey: G

43 T.J. Cummings: F

UTAH STATE

25 Dion Bailey:G

24 Ray Brennan:F

4 Jeremy Vague:C/F

KEYS TO THE GAME

* STYLE OF PLAY: Utah State is all about defense under Coach Stew Morrill. The Aggies play a 1-2-2 zone that forces opponents to beat them with the pass, not off the dribble. Their defensive highlight of the season came in the Big West Conference tournament, when they held Boise State scoreless for the final 12 minutes. Hofstra got a taste of UCLA’s press and fell apart. The Bruins are fit enough to apply intense pressure for 40 minutes, and that’s too much for a lot of teams. UCLA spreads the wealth offensively; seven players have scored 20 or more points in a game.

* MATCHUP TO WATCH: Dan Gadzuric vs. Dimitri Jorssen. Gadzuric is Dutch, Jorssen is Belgian, neither is an All-American, yet theirs should be a captivating showdown. Gadzuric is much quicker and more athletic--he has been all over the floor on the press--and should spin loose for some tomahawk jams. Although he’s plodding, 7-foot Jorssen has a soft baby hook and isn’t shy about shooting. He took a season-high 14 shots in the first round.

* INTANGIBLES: Experience means so much. UCLA has been to the Sweet 16 three times under Coach Steve Lavin; Utah State had not won a tournament game since 1970 until Thursday. The Aggies are coming off an emotional upset of fifth-seeded Ohio State and could be primed for a letdown. The Bruins want to prove they are better than the team Hofstra took down to the wire.

* MAGIC NUMBERS: Jason Kapono was a nonfactor in the Hofstra game, scoring seven points on two-of-eight shooting. Never in his UCLA career has he had consecutive single-digit scoring games. He disappeared against Stanford two weeks ago--taking seven shots and scoring eight points--and bounced back with a 28-point night against Washington State. If the Bruins get into a position where they have to foul, look for them to hack forward Shawn Daniels. He’s shooting a Shaq-like 44% from the line.

* FINAL ANALYSIS: The Bruins should win, but Utah State will give them problems and could keep the score in the 60s. The Aggies are a bit like Oregon State, a scrappy team that never stops playing tough defense, although they have more players who can score.

STATISTICS

UCLA (Regular Season, 29 Games)

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No. Player FGA-FGM .Pct FTA-FTM .Pct Reb. Ast. Pts Avg. 24 Kapono 155-348 .445 127-145 .876 5.9 2.2 513 17.7 25 Watson 150-314 .478 87-136 .640 3.4 5.2 423 14.6 23 Barnes 132-274 .482 79-137 .577 7.2 2.6 346 11.9 50 Gadzuric 137-260 .527 61-128 .477 8.2 0.5 335 11.6 34 Young 67-186 .360 59-71 .831 2.4 1.5 211 7.5 3 Knight 69-145 .476 43-61 .705 1.7 0.4 216 7.4 43 Cummings 81-165 .491 43-66 .652 3.8 0.4 205 7.1 21 Bailey 19-52 .365 22-35 .629 1.1 1.0 65 2.3 2 Rubin 3-3 1.000 0-0 .000 0.3 0.0 6 1.5 1 Flowers 8-20 .400 3-4 .750 0.6 0.8 21 1.2 14 Mollins 1-2 .500 0-0 .000 0.3 0.0 2 0.5 11 Ramasar 1-7 .143 0-2 .000 1.0 0.4 2 0.4 5 Nelson 0-2 .000 0-0 .000 0.0 0.3 0 0.0 UCLA 823-1778 .463 524-783 .669 38.1 14.4 2345 80.9 OPPONENTS 765-1717 .446 492-717 .686 35.8 15.1 2208 76.1

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THREE-POINT SHOOTING: Kapono, 76-167, 45.5%; Knight, 35-82, 42.7%; Watson, 36-101, 35.6%; Flowers, 2-7, 28.6%; Young, 18-82, 22.0%; Bailey, 5-23, 21.7%; Barnes, 3-25, 12.0%; Mollins 0-1, .000%; Ramasar 0-2, .000%; Nelson, 0-2, .000%; Cummings, 0-3, .000%; UCLA 175-493, 35.5%; Opponents: 186-586, 31.7%.

*

UTAH STATE (Regular Season, 32 Games)

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No. Player FGA-FGM .Pct FTA-FTM .Pct Reb. Ast. Pts Avg. 5 Daniels 160-273 .586 61-138 .442 6.8 1.9 381 11.9 31 Brown 113-265 .426 71-83 .855 2.8 3.4 374 11.7 10 Rock 115-245 .469 78-98 .796 2.9 4.5 333 10.4 22 Bobb 114-257 .444 40-48 .833 5.0 1.7 331 10.3 14 Jorssen 104-184 .565 73-100 .730 4.4 0.5 281 8.8 25 Bailey 51-103 .495 51-68 .750 3.1 1.9 155 4.8 4 Vague 51-98 .520 23-41 .561 2.5 0.2 125 3.9 24 Ray 34-60 .567 39-57 .684 2.3 0.6 107 3.3 32 Johnson 30-58 .517 17-34 .500 1.3 0.6 85 2.7 3 Vincent 26-66 .394 11-19 .579 0.6 1.1 78 2.4 44 Evans 6-12 .500 7-13 .538 0.9 0.1 19 1.2 34 Napier 2-11 .182 3-5 .600 0.2 0.0 8 1.3 UTAH STATE 806-1632 .494 474-704 .673 35.0 487 2277 71.2 Opponents 656-1695 .387 328-482 .680 30.2 491 1816 56.8

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THREE-POINT SHOOTING: Brown 77-182, .423; Bobb 63-158, .399; Rock 25-71, .352; Johnson 8-16, .500; Vincent 15-45, .333; Bailey 2-7, .286; Napier 1-5, .200; UTAH STATE 191-484, .395; OPPONENTS 176-582, .302

LOGS

UCLA

*Kansas: L 99-98

*Kentucky: W 97-92 (OT)

CS Northridge: L 78-74

Santa Barbara: W 83-77

**Georgia Tech: L 72-67

Hawaii: W 84-64

UC Irvine: W 65-60

North Carolina: L 80-70

at Purdue: W 87-82

Washington: W 86-64

Washington St.:W 75-57

USC: W 80-75

Villanova: W 93-65

Arizona St: W 91-83

Arizona: L 88-63

Oregon St: W 67-40

Oregon: W 98-88

at California: L 92-63

at Stanford: W 79-73

at USC: W 85-76

at DePaul: W 94-88

Arizona: W 79-77 (OT)

Arizona St.: W 73-68

at Oregon: W 88-73

at Oregon St.: W 68-65

California: W 79-75

Stanford: L 85-79

at Washington St.: W 86-76

at Washington: L 96-94

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Hofstra: W 61-48

* at New York

** at Arrowhead Pond

UTAH STATE

*Santa Clara: W 76-67

*South Florida: W 69-66

*Austin Peay: L 80-76 (OT)

Colo.-Colo. Springs: W67-61

at Idaho St.: W59-55

Utah: W58-57

Montana Tech: W79-29

at BYU: L 69-67

at UC Riverside: W 76-62

Weber St.: W 89-77

*Albany, N.Y.: W 88-43

*Air Force: W 59-50

at Cal Poly SLO: W 82-69

at Idaho: W 80-58

Long Beach St.: W 76-60

Pacific: W 73-59

UC Riverside: W 73-45

Boise St.: W 82-64

at Pacific: W 62-51

Idaho: W 71-57

at UC Irvine: L 56-51

at CS Fullerton: W 76-52

UC Irvine: W 67-52

CS Fullerton: W 58-46

at UC Santa Barbara: W 71-48

at Long Beach St.: L 71-56

at Boise St.: L 78-77 (OT)

UC Santa Barbara: W 83-50

Cal Poly SLO: W 82-55

**CS Fullerton W 74-43

**Boise St.: W 67-48

**Pacific: W 50-38

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Ohio State: W 77-68 (OT)

* Invitational tournaments

** Big West tournament