SCOUTING REPORT

STARTING LINEUPS

UCLA Pos HOFSTRA 24 Jason Kapono Forward 21 Norman Richardson 23 Matt Barnes Forward 4 Roberto Gittens 50 Dan Gadzuric Center 3 Greg Springfield 3 Billy Knight Guard 22 Rick Apodaca 25 Earl Watson Guard 12 Jason Hernandez

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KEY RESERVES

UCLA

34 Ray Young: G

21 Ryan Bailey: G

43 T.J. Cummings: F

HOFSTRA

11 Joel Suarez: G

23 Danny Walker: F

20 Abdou Sylla: F-C

KEYS TO THE GAME

* STYLE OF PLAY: UCLA is a firm believer in the power of the press. Since the second half of the North Carolina game, the Bruins have used full-court pressure to force turnovers, dictate the tempo and coax opponents into rushing their offense. In the last two games, though, the Bruins have done a poor job of getting back on defense when the game becomes a fastbreak-fest. Hofstra likes to run, but that’s against America East Conference teams, not against a team of this caliber. Pride Coach Jay Wright would love to keep the game in the 60s.

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* MATCHUP TO WATCH: Jason Kapono vs. Norman Richardson. If Kapono starts making shots, it hardly matters if there’s a hand in his face. He also has made great strides as a rebounder and was tied for second in the Pacific 10 Conference in foul shooting (86.6%). Richardson is a solid defender, but Desmond Mason torched him for 30 points in last year’s first-round loss to Oklahoma State. Richardson can get hot on the offensive end. He’s a streaky shooter who has a nice pull-up jump shot from the top of the key and is effective at drawing fouls.

* INTANGIBLES: This week, the Bruins have been reminded of the school’s first-round flops in the past decade--Penn State, Tulsa, Princeton, Detroit Mercy--and that has the players determined not to add to that legacy. The biggest thing Hofstra players have going for them is they played in the tournament last season. They aren’t wide-eyed and slack-jawed about the level of competition.

* MAGIC NUMBERS: Dan Gadzuric, a 6-foot-11 player who really concerns undersized Hofstra, averaged 9.5 rebounds over the past 10 games. Hofstra forward Roberto Gittens has found his offensive game and shot 75.3% from the field in the second half of the season. During its 18-game winning streak, Hofstra has made more free throws (328) than its opponents have attempted (304).

* FINAL ANALYSIS: Hofstra boasts a Ratings Performance Index (RPI) ranking of 46, by far the best of any 13th-seeded team in the tournament. But unlike Cinderella teams of the past, Hofstra doesn’t have that one player who can get scorching hot and put together an otherworldly performance. It’s a good team that relies on strong fundamentals, staunch defense and solid rebounding. That’s enough to run the table in the America East Conference, but it won’t be enough to beat UCLA.

STATISTICS

UCLA

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No. Player FGA-FGM .Pct FTA-FTM .Pct Reb. Ast. Pts Avg. 24 Kapono 155-348 .445 127-145 .876 5.9 2.2 513 17.7 25 Watson 150-314 .478 87-136 .640 3.4 5.2 423 14.6 23 Barnes 132-274 .482 79-137 .577 7.2 2.6 346 11.9 50 Gadzuric 137-260 .527 61-128 .477 8.2 0.5 335 11.6 34 Young 67-186 .360 59-71 .831 2.4 1.5 211 7.5 3 Knight 69-145 .476 43-61 .705 1.7 0.4 216 7.4 43 Cummings 81-165 .491 43-66 .652 3.8 0.4 205 7.1 21 Bailey 19-52 .365 22-35 .629 1.1 1.0 65 2.3 2 Rubin 3-3 1.000 0-0 .000 0.3 0.0 6 1.5 1 Flowers 8-20 .400 3-4 .750 0.6 0.8 21 1.2 14 Mollins 1-2 .500 0-0 .000 0.3 0.0 2 0.5 11 Ramasar 1-7 .143 0-2 .000 1.0 0.4 2 0.4 5 Nelson 0-2 .000 0-0 .000 0.0 0.3 0 0.0 UCLA 823-1778 .463 524-783 .669 38.1 14.4 2345 80.9 OPPONENTS 765-1717 .446 492-717 .686 35.8 15.1 2208 76.1

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THREE-POINT SHOOTING: Kapono, 76-167, 45.5%; Knight, 35-82, 42.7%; Watson, 36-101, 35.6%; Flowers, 2-7, 28.6%; Young, 18-82, 22.0%; Bailey, 5-23, 21.7%; Barnes, 3-25, 12.0%; Mollins 0-1, .000%; Ramasar 0-2, .000%; Nelson, 0-2, .000%; Cummings, 0-3, .000%; UCLA 175-493, 35.5%;Opponents: 186-586, 31.7%.

HOFSTRA

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No. Player FGA-FGM .Pct FTA-FTM .Pct Reb. Ast. Pts Avg. 21 Richardson 156-380 .411 153-208 .736 6.0 2.8 505 16.8 12 Hernandez 117-269 .435 82-105 .781 2.2 3.9 363 12.1 22 Apodaca 128-312 .410 50-79 .633 3.4 2.8 347 12.0 4 Gittens 120-182 .659 81-141 .574 6.9 1.1 321 10.7 11 Suarez 67-148 .453 32-47 .681 0.9 1.0 189 6.8 3 Springfield 70-113 .619 29-59 .492 7.4 10.7 169 5.6 32 Grubler 46-78 .590 39-64 .609 3.0 0.4 131 4.5 23 Walker 40-82 .488 26-42 .619 2.5 0.3 109 4.5 42 Feeley 5-12 .417 1-2 .500 3.2 0.6 56 1.9 20 Sylla 19-35 .543 18-43 .419 0.2 0.3 15 0.9 13 Fox 1-4 .250 2-2 1.000 0.1 0.3 5 0.3 HOFSTRA 769-1615 .476 513-792 .648 37.8 13.4 2209 73.6 OPPONENTS 660-1661 .397 386-556 .694 31.9 7.1 1868 62.3

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THREE-POINT SHOOTING: Richardson 40-121, .331; Hernandez 47-133, .353; Apodaca 41-125, .328; Gittens 0-0, .000; 23-67, .343; Springfield 0-0, .000; Grubler 0-0, .000; Walker 3-19, .158; Sylla 0-0, .000; Feeley 4-11, .364; Fox 1-4, .250; HOFSTRA 158-478, .331; OPPONENTS 162-541, .299.

LOGS

UCLA

*Kansas: L 99-98

*Kentucky: W 97-92 (OT)

vs. CS Northridge: L 78-74

vs. Santa Barbara: W 83-77

**Georgia Tech: L 72-67

vs. Hawaii: W 84-64

vs. UC Irvine: W 65-60

vs. North Carolina: L 80-70

at Purdue: W 87-82

vs. Washington: W 86-64

vs. Washington St.: W 75-57

vs. USC: W 80-75

vs. Villanova: W 93-65

at Arizona St: W 91-83

at Arizona: L 88-63

vs. Oregon St: W 67-40

vs. Oregon: W 98-88

at California: L 92-63

at Stanford: W 79-73

at USC: W 85-76

at DePaul: W 94-88

vs. Arizona: W 79-77 (OT)

vs. Arizona St.: W 73-68

at Oregon: W 88-73

at Oregon St.: W 68-65

vs. California: W 79-75

vs. Stanford: L 85-79

at Washington St.: W 86-76

at Washington: L 96-94

* at New York

** at Arrowhead Pond

HOFSTRA

Northern Illinois: W 81-57

Florida Int: W 78-50

at Fla. Atlantic: W 87-67

at Stony Brook: W 72-60

Delaware: L 79-74

Drexel: W 69-62

at Iona: L 61-60

at St. Johns: W 86-80

Rutgers: W 58-52

Penn St: L 74-71

Towson: W 80-54

at Boston U: L 74-70

at Northeastern: W 72-65

Manhattan: W 57-43

at Hartford: W 53-47

at Vermont: W 74-69

New Hampshire: W 75-70

Maine: W 67-62 (OT)

Northeastern: W 94-70

Boston U: W 77-56

at Towson: W 79-58

at Delaware: W 68-55

Vermont: W 73-60

Hartford: W 73-54

at Maine: W 89-83

at New Hampshire: W 80-61

at Drexel: W 78-70

*Vermont: W 68-55

*Maine: W 78-66

*Delaware: W 68-54

* America East tournament