Steve Lavin was pleased his young UCLA team had found a way to survive against a scrappy San Francisco team in the first round of the Puerto Rico Shootout.
Within minutes of that appraisal Thursday night, he was forced to became realistic."This was a gut-check victory. They were challenged and they responded," he said of his 10th-ranked Bruins' 69-62 victory over San Francisco. "That's what I'm pleased with, and now in less than 24 hours we'll get tested again."
Today, the Bruins (2-0), who have 12 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, face No. 5 Maryland in the semifinals.
"If we play the way we did tonight against Maryland," Lavin said, "we might get blitzkrieged by 70."
UCLA, which committed 24 turnovers, trailed 40-36 at halftime and seemed to be in control with a 16-3 run to open the second half. But the pesky Dons (2-1) wouldn't go away and took a 57-56 lead. Matt Barnes, who had nine points and eight rebounds, made two free throws with 3:15 left to give UCLA the lead for good.
MARYLAND 82, AMERICAN-P.R. 32: The Terrapins scored the game's first 15 points and extended their average margin of victory this season to 41.8 points.
The Pirates (0-1) lost 10 players from their roster after they weren't approved by the NCAA Clearinghouse when the school made the move from Division III to II this year.
"It's a shame because American has a really great tradition in this tournament with the upsets," Maryland coach Gary Williams said, referring to victories last season over Arkansas and Alabama. "Then the ruling goes against them and I know how disappointed they are. It's not a game you enjoy playing, to be honest with you."
Williams did the humane thing by calling off the press four minutes into the game.
PITTSBURGH 94, XAVIER 76: Attila Cosby, who sprained an ankle Monday night against Texas-Pan American, scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Panthers outrebounded the Musketeers (3-1) 48-37 and held them to 5-of-28 shooting from 3-point range.
Gary Lumpkin and Lloyd Price each had 17 points for Xavier.
"Despite how poorly we played, we had chances to get back in it, but we missed open looks and missed free throws," Xavier coach Skip Prosser said. "When that happens, you have to come up with the big shot, and we didn't."
KENTUCKY 64, COLORADO 52: The Wildcats were stunned early as the Buffaloes (4-1) took an 11-2 lead, but they went from a man-to-man defense to a 1-2-2 matchup zone and went on a 24-2 run.
Freshman Tayshaun Prince had 15 points for the Wildcats, the defending national champions who won their 17th straight game.
"They attacked us early with their quickness, and that took us out of the man-to-man," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "We went to the zone to try to match up on the perimeter. We did a good job defensively inside and we were pretty good at contesting their outside shots as well."
Kenny Price led the Buffaloes with 16 points.
DUKE 111, NOTRE DAME 82: At Anchorage, Alaska, William Avery scored 22 points and Trajan Langdon added 20 as Duke won in the opening-round of the Great Alaska Shootout.
Avery hit six 3-pointers and Langdon made all four of his attempts from 3-point range as Duke (4-0) connected on 15 of 20 3-pointers. Freshman Corey Maggette came off the bench to add 20 points as the Blue Devils coasted after taking a 62-34 halftime lead.