Drew Gordon had the only positive impact among former Bruins in first round action. Gordon was 7-10 with a team leading 18 points and 13 rebounds as New Mexico beat Long Beach State 75 -68. Unfortunately for former Bruins Chase Stanback and Mike Moser, they did not excel in their exit versus a decidedly mediocre Colorado team in the first round, losing 68-64. Moser was 4-15 and but had 9 rebounds in 35 minutes of play. Stanback ended his college career shooting 3-12 with 4 rebounds in 29 minutes. Matt Carlino was 2-10 with four assists in 32 minutes of play as BYU was eliminated at 88 - 68. At least these players made the tournament. They all played major minutes.

UCLA's only mention on the first day of the tournament was that Connecticut became the first team NCAA Tournament champion since the 1996 Bruins to be knocked out in the first round. I can still see Charles O'Bannon being taken back door as Princeton knocked us out of the tournament.