A few hours after No. 2 seed Arizona was shocked by No. 15 Princeton, No. 2 UCLA left no doubt against No. 15 UNC Asheville.
SACRAMENTO — Were UCLA’s players paying attention to Thursday’s early results? Or here’s a better question: Did they really need other people’s upsets to motivate them at this time of year?
“It has no bearing on us,” UCLA’s coach said. “We don’t believe in false motivation, so we don’t believe that you need your home crowd to win. We don’t believe you need two starters to win. We believe that you need toughness and togetherness, playing hard and smart. There’s always a way to win.” It was to UCLA’s advantage that for Thursday’s tournament opener it wasn’t playing Princeton, or Princeton Lite, or really any team with any sort of NCAA tournament resume. Instead, Asheville’s players looked like first-timers. They seemed absolutely petrified at the prospect of sharing the court with the Bruins, chucking airballs and throwing passes away.
The rest of the Big South Conference champs were similarly inefficient. They gave up 56 points in the paint and 30 off turnovers, shot 37.3% and were 7 for 17 on layups. Clearly, they were not ready for prime time.There is a difference between low seeds that have been here before and understand how to use the unpredictability of March Madness in their favor, and those who have no idea what it’s all about until it hits them.
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