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UCLA routing Notre Dame at halftime, 46-30

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Blame it on the rain ... or the early start time. The 10 a.m. tipoff at Pauley Pavilion may have resulted in a bigger television audience for UCLA and Notre Dame on the East Coast, but it also resulted in a lot of empty seats and some sloppy play in the opening minutes. Both sides missed open shots, and sure-fire point guard Darren Collison looked, well, unsure.

Then UCLA forward Nikola Dragovic hammered down a devastating block that energized the student section ... as well as the Bruins on the court. A couple plays later senior forward Josh Shipp threw down a one-handed alley-oop dunk that brought the entire arena to its feet. Rout on.

With the Bruins ahead 14-2, it was obvious why fans in an EA Sports poll voted Pauley one of the most difficult arenas in the nation to visit. It doesn’t matter that the stands are back at least 20 feet from the end line. That doesn’t keep UCLA’s players off the court, which would have been the only way to stop them in the first half on Saturday. The Bruins walked into the locker room with 46-30 lead.

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You want intimidation factor? Win. That’s just what UCLA basketball has done. The last thing the Fighting Irish heard before tipoff was the announcer reminding them that Bruins have won 30 conference championships and 11 NCAA titles.

That’s intimidating.

The last time Notre Dame won it all was in 1936, a prehistoric era of college basketball when John Wooden was still a decade from coaching his first game at Indiana State. More than 70 years later, he was sitting in the stands and just enjoying the Bruins’ success.

-- Adam Rose

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