Bumped. -BN

That was undoubtedly the best crowd I've seen in Pauley. Period. I fully believe that the players fed on the energy of the crowd, and while I won't take complete responsibility for the result, I'm positive that we had a discernible effect. I don't even know where to start. Reeves...broke out in a big way today. I remember, part-way through the first half, turning to my friend and saying "Holy shit, Reeves has 17 points already!" It just kept going from there. Of course, my photos are going to focus on the offensive dominance, since that more easily photographs than a good defensive performance, but I want to give massive props to the incredible defensive effort our guys put out today in the text. Derrick Williams was a non-issue in the second half. Kyle Fogg, who some of you might recall from last year (scoring 25 and 26 in two meetings with UCLA), scored 10.

Joshua Smith was beastly, despite the usual thinly-veiled vendetta calls from the refs. There were a few minutes where I was a little scared that he would get sidelined by foul trouble, but he pulled it together after two quick foul calls and picked up only one more over the rest of the game. Anthony Stover....that man is a shot-blocking machine. In stark contrast to last year around this time, I'm very comfortable with the 5. Jerime Anderson showed us that he has some pretty sweet finishing moves-- I've gained a lot of confidence in him as well over the last ten games or so. Enough of this, onto the pictures!

From 20110226MBB vs AZ

Malcolm Lee and Reeves Nelson celebrate as Ben Howland line-changes the bench in with less than a minute remaining. More after the jump!

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Reeves is a beast. 'Nuff said.

From 20110226MBB vs AZ

Anthony Stover says "Nope. Not in my house."

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Tyler Honeycutt takes a shot. It was a pretty play to get him open, but the shot didn't drop.

From 20110226MBB vs AZ

Reeves on D.

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"Play #3: foul Josh Smith!" He converted the three-point play.

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"NO SHOT FOR YOU!"

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Full Pauley-- sending it off right.

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Tyler Honeycutt takes an easy dunk.

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The last points scored by the Men's team at Old Pauley, and the first points on the season for Tyler Trapani.

From 20110226MBB vs AZ

Ben Howland is happy (and pumped) -- This one has a funny story. As soon as the clock ran out, I went to CBH looking for a reaction shot. Nada. He calmly walked over, shook hands with the opposing coach, and began to walk off the court. I gave up, figuring he wasn't going to react in public. Then, he got to the "tunnel" of fans leading to the locker room, and he exploded. If you look at this picture in the full gallery, it and its immediate predecessor are one second apart.

Slideshow!

Thanks for following my work through the season, and I'll try my best to cover the various tournaments. I'll probably have a hard time choosing between the Men's NCAA tourney and the Women's, but I guess I'll have to decide if/when it becomes official. In the meantime, check out the women's team recaps coming next Thursday and Saturday!