Western Kentucky-UCLA: postgame II

Bruin Coach Ben Howland had a lot to say after the Bruins hung on to beat Western Kentucky, 88-78, in the second game of the NCAA West Regional semifinal Thursday night.

In the postgame interview session, he told reporters that "Western Kentucky did a great job of speeding up the game in the second half. We did a poor job, in the second half, at times, of shot selection when we were up 15, up 17, up 18 and gave them the ball back when they were able to come down and score. We got in foul trouble there and they got to the line early, but I thought at the end we showed some poise, even with Darren [Collison] fouling out and with two of our starters with  four fouls each in [Russell] Westbrook and [Josh] Shipp. We did make some silly fouls that we would like to avoid in the future.

"I thought James [Keefe] really had a great and a career game tonight thus far. We’re expecting more, James [sitting to his left]. But 18 [points] and 12 [rebounds] is a nice game and for those of you who don’t know, he had shoulder surgery this past — what was it, August? — so he was out for four or five months with his shoulder. He came back in mid-December and I decided at that time because we were healthy with [Michael] Roll to redshirt this guy. Then when Roll went down, we brought him off his redshirt year, so it was really a kind of roller-coaster ride emotionally for James. But his parents were supportive and he was supportive because he wants to do what’s best for the team. So it’s kind of fun to see a guy who does the right things get rewarded by having the game of his life here and helping his team get along to the next round, the Elite Eight.

"Now it will be go home, digest [the scouting report on Xavier], but this is kind of typical of a Pac-10 weekend now, where you’ve got to get it all done in one day, and that’s hard, especially since we have to come back and spend an hour and a half with you guys [media], it makes it even more difficult. But we’ll do our best.

"I know [Xavier coach] Sean Miller because he’s a graduate of Pitt University; I knew his father when I was the head coach at Pitt, out at the high school  — Blackhawk, I think it’s called. Sean’s a great guy. Sean was a great point guard at the University of Pittsburgh; he’s worked for some great coaches along the way. They [Xavier] are very well coached. I recruited [point guard] Drew Lavender; he visited Pitt when I was head coach there. I know him, I know how good he is. They are very sound, they play great man-to-man defense. We’ve got our hands full, we understand that."

A few minutes later, Howland visited with CBS-TV Channel 2's Jim Hill:

"I was just really glad we were able to hang on there. They made a great run at us in the second half after an unbelievable first half, where we had a 21-point lead. It’s hard not to let your guard down, even though we talked about that specifically in the halftime talk, and once again, Western Kentucky is a very good team. They made a lot of plays on the ball, forced some turnovers, hit some threes, but we made our free-throws down the stretch and to win without Darren [Collison] in the game was incredible.

"I thought James Keefe was really special today — 18 and 12 — I’m so happy for him. Kevin Love, with 14 rebounds and 29 points, did a great job around the basket, keeping us going when they were making their run. I thought Josh [Shipp] had a big game for us today. Luc [Richard Mbah a Moute]’s defense was outstanding; he was on their best player [Courtney] Lee a lot. Lee was 7-for-29 from the field. The one guy we had problems with was [Tyrone] Brazelton; he hit some threes and had a big second half. But, at the end of the day, we do get to advance and that’s great. We try to make it exciting for our fans, Jim, we don’t want them to get bored out there on TV."

Asked about why the Hilltoppers were able to pressure the Bruins and close to within four points, Howland said, "We got tentative and you have to be able to finish at the other end, and we were doing that, at times. I thought where we made some poor mistakes is where we took some quick shots in the half-court with an 18-point lead, 17-point lead, 16-point lead and we’ve got to be smarter than that."

Hill also inquired about what Howland told the team right after the end of the game. Howland said he told the Bruins "that we’ve got to do better in the second half and make better decisions. But I was proud of their effort, the way they hung on when they made their run and the way we were able to get the win."

Hill also asked about Xavier; Howland said, "You don’t get to this point in the NCAA Tournament without being really good. Sean Miller and I were both connected to the University of Pittsburgh, he’s a former player and he’s from that area and I know Sean, he’s a great coach. They’re very talented; Drew Lavender is a point guard I actually had visit the University of Pittsburgh when I was coaching there six years ago, and he’s a very talented point guard. He causes a lot of problems because he’s really quick, he’s hard to stay in front of. We know we’ll have our hands full; we’re just glad to have that chance."

Comments

[UCLA Alumnus]

Rich -

Thanks for actually reporting on what matters -- the game, and how the two teams competed. Good game or bad game - you report on facts....both accomplishments and setbacks.

Lets hope they pay your colleagues (Pucin, Billy P) by the word, and not for the accuracy of their reporting. How pathetic that there was no acknowledgement of a strong performance today after all the articles spitting venom over the past several days. Guess grace and humility aren't important qualities in journalism anymore.

Keep up the great work!! And let me know the address to send the truck full of crow to the two home-town hating super-friends.

GO Bruins!!