Monday, March 9, 1998
Sixth seed satisfies Bruins
TOURNAMENT: Match-up versus Miami Hurricanes begins post-season
play
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Staff
The Bruins have Georgia on their mind.
And the Miami Hurricanes.
UCLA (22-8) will travel to Atlanta to battle Miami (18-9) in the
first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at a time yet to be
determined.
The 19th-ranked UCLA men’s basketball team was given the sixth
seed in the South Region of the 1998 NCAA Tournament to begin later
this week, and as a result, a match-up with the 11th-seeded
Hurricanes.
"(The sixth seed) was right on the mark compared to where we
figured we would be," head coach Steve Lavin.
The South region is one of the toughest in the Tournament, with
Duke, Kentucky, Michigan taking the top three seeds.
Should UCLA beat Miami – which won only six of its final 14
games en route to a second-place finish in the Big East 7 – a
match-up with the winner of third-seeded Michigan and 14th-seeded
Davidson.
The other two games in the first round in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome
will include Kentucky versus South Carolina State and Massachusetts
versus St. Louis.
"I think it is a strong region, no question," Lavin said. "It’s
a region we’re looking forward to playing in.
"Everybody in the region is a quality opponent. They have the
ability to play both speeds and are athletic."
Other than Duke, the other top-seeded teams are Arizona (West),
Kansas (Midwest), and North Carolina (East).
The Pac-10 was well-represented in the brackets. In addition to
Arizona and UCLA, Stanford was given the third seed in the Midwest,
while Washington was given the 11th seed in the East.
To the surprise of many and the disappointment of some, UCLA was
not placed in the same region as Rhode Island (which is coached by
former Bruin head coach Jim Harrick).
However, Rhode Island will meet Murray State (also coached by a
former UCLA assistant coach – Mark Gottfried) in a first-round
matchup in the Midwest.
Although the Bruins were virtually guaranteed of gaining a
berth, at least one Bruin was a little anxious when the Bruins’
placement wasn’t announced until the bitter end.
"I was nervous, I didn’t think we were going to get in,"
freshman guard Baron Davis said. "When our name came up, I was
relieved."