Line Change for UCLA

What game was UCLA playing?

There were hockey-like substitutions, a football mentality and a barrage of home run balls.

Whatever this amalgam was called, it certainly didn’t resemble the fitful brand of basketball the Bruins played the last two months. And somehow it worked brilliantly, resulting in the demolition of Mississippi, 80-58, Friday night in the first round of the West Regional at Mellon Arena.

Coaches from Cincinnati--the Bruins’ second-round opponent Sunday--walked away scratching their heads. How are they supposed to prepare?

Based on this game the Bearcats can ignore Jason Kapono. The Bruins’ leading scorer had a career-low two points in 24 minutes.

They ought to double-team freshman Dijon Thompson. The reserve came in averaging 4.0 points and scored a career-high 16 on six-of-eight shooting.

And Billy Knight, well, maybe Cincinnati ought to walk him intentionally. He was UCLA’s home run hitter with five three-point baskets, including one to beat the first-half buzzer and three in a row to begin the second half when the Bruins (20-11) opened a double-digit lead they never relinquished.

“It’s going to be really tough to prepare for us,” said Matt Barnes, who scored only six points--seven below his average--in 23 minutes. “Cincinnati won’t know what to prepare for.”

Mississippi (20-11) certainly didn’t. The Rebels tried unsuccessfully to shoot over the zone defense employed by Bruin starters, then became flustered by the full-court press employed by the five reserves that came off the bench at once like a hockey substitution.

“We came out with an aggressive mentality, we were going to come out swinging,” senior Rico Hines said. “We heard they were aggressive, so we wanted to be the aggressors ourselves and force them to shoot poorly.”

Wonder why Mississippi is called Ole Miss? Because that’s all they do. The Rebels missed 41 of 62 shots, including 25 of 35 three-point attempts.

Point guard Jason Harrison was 0 for 9, with all the shots coming from long range.

“We had good looks,” Harrison said. “They didn’t go down.”

So UCLA (20-11) reached 20 victories for the 15th consecutive season and Coach Steve Lavin’s NCAA tournament record improved to 10-5.

And the sour taste of the Bruins’ 8-9 record the last two months became more distant as the lead grew.

“I wanted to see how our players bounced back from a losing streak,” Knight said. “Some teams come into the tournament hot, but that doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is how you play here.”

It became clear early which team was playing well enough to continue its season.

Ole Miss missed and missed and missed in the first half, shooting 33.3% and sinking only six of 19 three-point attempts. Only eight shots came inside the arc; three went in.

UCLA substitutes Thompson, Hines, Andre Patterson, T.J. Cummings and Ryan Walcott entered en masse with 9:43 left in the first half and the Bruins ahead, 11-10. They exited 5:35 later, the lead having grown to 28-16 thanks to 10 points by Thompson and six Rebel turnovers caused by a rabid Bruin press.

Lavin sent the five starters to the scorer’s table earlier, but a Rebel turnover changed his mind. Barnes didn’t care, waving for the Bruins on the floor to stay put.

When the starters did return, UCLA promptly blew all but three points of the lead in less than a minute. Cedric Bozeman and Barnes combined for seven of the team’s eight first-half turnovers, repeatedly underestimating the quickness of the Rebels and forcing passes.

Aaron Harper, who led Ole Miss with 19 points, got hot briefly and Lavin was tempted to go back to the reserves. However, he stuck with the starters and a put-back by Knight, a dunk by Gadzuric and the three-pointer at the buzzer by Knight sent the teams off the floor with UCLA ahead, 36-26.

Knight didn’t leave his touch in the locker room, making three consecutive three-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half.

“I was in a slump the last four games,” Knight said. “So in practice I started shooting a lot. I felt it. I liked the rims in there.”

A dunk by Gadzuric and leaner by Barnes stretched the lead to 49-26, but two baskets by Mississippi triggered another mass substitution. Again the reserves created havoc, forcing two quick turnovers.

The last 10 minutes were essentially garbage time, with Lavin experimenting with various lineups and Ole Miss becoming Rebels without a cause. No Bruin played more than 27 minutes and 10 played at least 12 minutes.

The reserves scored 42 points, a season high.

“It was exciting watching [the reserve unit],” Barnes said. “I had a great time being a spectator for us.”

Lavin made a similar mass substitution two weeks ago in a loss to Oregon, but this time replaced Bozeman with Hines on the reserve unit.

Will he use the two-platoon system Sunday? Cincinnati must be expecting as much.

“The five reserves play better together than when they go into the game one at a time and try to blend with the starters,” Lavin said. “It’s like musicians who practice and play together, then make beautiful music.

“We’ve got the veteran group playing jazz and the reserves come in with their R&B.;”

For one night at least, the beat went on.