OLIVER KIMOKEO | sports editor
photo | ROBIN FAWCETT
While dribbing, senior forward Todd Martin contemplates his next move against UCLA's Josh Shipp.

AMBER WOLF | staff writer

Men's basketball opens the season with a learning experience at Pauley Pavilion.

On Nov. 2, the Cougars received first-class treatment at Pauley Pavilion, including a first-rate performance by the UCLA Bruins.

“This is an experience of a lifetime,” freshman guard Mike Caffese said. “Not too many [APU players] can say they played in Pauley Pavilion against UCLA. So I wanted to make the most of it and just go out there and play as hard as I could.”

Even though the Cougars were on the losing end of a 111-61 game, they showed a glimpse of what they plan to do in the NAIA for the 2007-2008 season.

“We got a special team moving forward that can do some really nice things this season,” head coach Justin Leslie said.

UCLA came into this exhibition match-up with full force. The Bruins are coming off two consecutive Final Four appearances.

“UCLA is a heralded program, one of the best, and they showed it tonight,” junior center David Burgess said.

The Bruins were relentless and did not give the Cougars an inch of room to work with. When the Cougars advanced the ball to their offensive side, they were double-teamed and triple-teamed by a Bruin defender. This, in turn led to 19 Cougars turnovers.

The Cougars were outscored by 22 points in the first half and 28 points in the second half, which led to the 50-point loss.

“In the first half, you take away the five turnovers that went straight for transition baskets,” Leslie said. “Without those baskets, it’s a 10-12 point game as opposed to 22 and that’s a lot different.”

This was the first time Justin Leslie has set foot on the sidelines as the Cougar head coach. He served as an assistant coach for Bill Odell for the last five seasons. Additionally, he played as a center under Odell from 1996 to 2001.

Leslie was excited for his debut at Pauley Pavilion because he got to compete against one of his favorite teams.

“I grew up a UCLA fan—I’m still a UCLA fan,” Leslie said. “I had season tickets in ‘95 when they won the national title.”

For the upcoming 2007-2008 season, the Cougars are not returning any of the five starters on last year’s squad. They are only six returnees for the Cougars this year. Three players are returning redshirts and there are four transfers from other schools.

Returnee and senior guard Matt Oliver was impressed with the way the Cougars came together on the court in the first game in brick and black for a majority of the players.

“One of the things that really stuck out to me is that we never did it on our own,” Oliver said. “We just pulled together all the time and that’s what we needed.”
The Cougars connected on 17 assists, not too far behind the 21 team assists for the Bruins.

However, for what the Cougars did well, the Bruins did great. UCLA held a 49-29 advantage in rebounds and 10-2 advantage in steals.

Not only did the Bruins hold a competitive edge over the Cougars but also they held a home-court advantage.

The atmosphere at Pauley Pavilion was something to behold. They had two fan cheering sections who were perfectly synced with each other on the chants and movements.

It was a challenge to find a Blackout T-Shirt within a sea of blue in the pavilion. The Bruin fans were loud, intense, and very hungry for their first home win of the season.

The UCLA coaches and players did respect the Cougars for the effort they put across.

“APU is a nice little NAIA team and they’re going to win a lot of games this year,” UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. “I liked playing them because they are organized and they ran some nice things. They’re a good team for their level.”

Likewise, UCLA freshman center Kevin Love, who made a double-double impact in his first game as a Bruin with 15 points and 12 rebounds, will take this game as a good learning experience for both squads.

“This is a good test run for us to see how we played against a pretty good team,” Love said. “Like Coach Howland said, they are going to be a pretty good team this year and they are well coached. If things keep on going good, we’re going to keep on getting better and so are they.”