• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

By Greg Schain

Daily Bruin Reporter

SAN JOSE, Ca - It was like going to a five-star restaurant and ordering the filet mignon.

But before getting to the main course, a close UCLA loss to Missouri, the crowd warmed up with an enticing appetizer.

Arizona versus Oklahoma was the escargot for most of the soldout crowd at the Compaq Center in San Jose on Thursday. The vast sea of blue and gold that surrounded the arena sat motionless, waiting for their team, the filet mignon of their hearts and minds, to take the floor.

"The first game got old after a while," said Gary Lieberstien, a 1976 UCLA alumnus from Napa Valley. "But we had the scoreboard, so we were able to watch the Duke-Indiana game."

Many students found going to the game good stress relief after a tough finals week. Others figured basketball took precedence over finals.

"I have a final on Friday, but I came here instead," said Sunil Dave, a fourth-year business economics student. "This is the Sweet 16. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. There's no question it's worth being here."

The UCLA Central Ticket Office sold 1,250 tickets as soon as they went on sale this week, the maximum amount allotted by the NCAA. Students, faculty and alumni all bought the tickets to see their Bruins make a run at the Final Four.

Tickets cost $110 and guaranteed admission for both Thursday games and the Elite Eight matchup on Saturday.

"San Jose is close. It is a lot different than if we were playing in Lexington," CTO director David Lownstein said. "If we were playing in Lexington, students would have a difficult time getting there. This is similar to 1995, when we played in Oakland."

A lot of alumni also live in the Bay Area, making it an easy commute to see their alma mater in action.

"This is a Pac-10 area, so there are a lot of UCLA fans here," said Richard Kilwien, tournament manager at the San Jose site. "And a lot of UCLA graduates live around San Jose, so it makes sense that they outnumber everyone else."

But the Pauley-like atmosphere that existed in the first half didn't last, as UCLA's sloppy play took the crowd out of the game for much of the second half.

"In the first half, it seemed like a home game," UCLA point guard Cedric Bozeman said. "The crowd is always good, but in the end it's the players who get it done."