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  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Billy Knight plays solid defense against a Utah State opponent in the second round of NCAA tournament play in Greensboro, N.C. Saturday afternoon.

By AJ Cadman

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Defending their coach from the daily scrutiny pressed upon him for holding the top spot of the UCLA men's basketball program, the Bruins put together another defensive gem Saturday for tournament win No. 2. UCLA will now advance to its third consecutive Sweet Sixteen - the fourth in five years.

Behind a game-high 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting from sophomore Jason Kapono, UCLA (23-8) handcuffed Utah State (28-6) and threw away the key in a 75-50 victory in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. The Bruins advance to the East Regional semifinal this Thursday against top-seeded Duke, the nation's No. 1 ranked team in the final regular season Top 25 rankings.

"I am proud of our team's determination defensively," UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin said. "They put together a string of shutouts and stops tonight that were the key to the game."

  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Earl Watson flies over Bernard Rock (far right) and Dan Stewart to pass the ball. For the Sons of Westwood, practice made perfect during the first weekend of this year's March Madness. After surrendering only 48 points to Hofstra two days earlier, UCLA allowed 50 to the Aggies. This marks the first time since the 1981-92 campaign that UCLA has held more than one opponent to 50 points or lower.

"After we lost to Washington we knew that we needed to stress defense," said UCLA senior point guard Earl Watson, who made his 128th consecutive start on Saturday. "The first practice after we came back, we spent the whole practice working on defense - the whole three hours."

The Bruins held Utah State to 18 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes and a 28 percent clip for the contest. Guard Tony Brown and center Dimitri Jorssen, the Aggies' two scoring threats who enabled them to move past Ohio State on Thursday, found the rims unkind on Saturday, combining for a total of 12 points on 4-for-24 shooting.

  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Dan Gadzuric doesn’t let Jeremy Vague’s block stop him from scoring another two points Saturday.

"It's tough to win a basketball game when you miss 22 shots in a row," Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said afterward. "It was one of those nights that we couldn't make any shots. And when you are shooting as poorly as we were, it's hard to catch up."

UCLA started the contest without Kapono and junior forward Matt Barnes in the lineup. Lavin decided Friday to sit both as a displinary action after both missed part of a scheduled study hall session.

Utah State moved up early with a pair of Shawn Daniels buckets and a Tony Brown three-pointer to give the Aggies a brief 9-6 advantage in the game's first three and a half minutes.

But the Bruins put together a string of 15, capped by a Watson alley-oop jam off an inbounds pass with 6:38 remaining in the first half.

Leading 21-9, UCLA continued to shoot well, shooting 45 percent in the first frame and shooting 55 percent for the game. Much of that had to do with the strong inside play of junior center Dan Gadzuric, who finished with four blocks and a a double-double of 14 recounds and 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field.

PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Shawn Daniels (#42) swipes uselessly at the ball as Dan Gadzuric gets control it. "When he's in the game and out of foul trouble, he's as dominant a post presence as there is in the country," Lavin said. "I know that when he is in the back of our press, he anchors things defensively. He finishes off the defensive possession because he cleans up the boards."

With a 30-19 lead coming out of halftime, the Bruins found themselves in a more open game, with Utah State straying away from its methodical, slow-paced game plan to get easier baskets. But this theory was a failure, allowing UCLA to better implement their full-court press.

With eight minutes left in the second half, the Aggies cut the deficit to 36-32 on a Daniels driving bank layup, but a Kapono three-pointer from the left wing began to close the door on Utah State's tournament run. A 25-8 stretch for the Bruins over the next seven minutes ended with a Gadzuric two-hand jam.

UCLA never looked back.

"Our press was able to get us turnovers," said Watson, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. "That got us easy baskets. We used that as a springboard to get us the momentum of the game."

UCLA outrebounded Utah State 47-31, and owned a 44-24 point advantage in the paint. Against the Blue Devils Thursday in Philadelphia the Bruins will look for more of the same and give increased attention to Duke's outside shooting and tempo. They especially have to focus on the man many believe is college basketball's most well-oiled machine - sophomore point guard Jason Williams.

This Thursday the Bruins won't find any compassion in the City of Brotherly Love. By getting to the Sweet Sixteen, though, one thing is for sure - amid all the controversy and struggles, the Bruins have proven that they have nothing to defend anymore. Except maybe the opposition.

PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Earl Watson and Matt Barnes attempt to gain possession of the ball from Utah State’s Dimitri Jorssen. PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff The Bruins celebrate on the sidelines of Greensboro Colisseum as they crush the Aggies 75-50 Saturday afternoon.