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"Hey, Reese," Murray said to former North Carolina forward Brian Reese. "Don't let what happened to us happen to you."

That lesson never seemed to stick with UCLA. Two times before and two times after the Bruins' national title in 1995, somebody bounced them from the tournament in the first round during the 1990s. For as long as they once dominated college basketball, for as much as they chew on their own coaches, creating juicy little March dramas, the Bruins almost invite fans to root for their early demise.

Last year, Detroit did the honors. Before that it was Penn State, Tulsa and Princeton. Now here was Ball State, a team that had a starter who watched UCLA's loss to Princeton in the stands as a fan.

This time, the Bruins responded to a situation that easily could have started the clock ticking on the end of the Steve Lavin era. Next season would have been double-secret probation, for sure. But with a free-spirited, headband-wearing freshman named Jason Kapono drilling 3-pointers, UCLA turned back an upset bid by Ball State, winning 65-57.

Nobody would admit to a sense of relief, but it had to be something like that. Ball State led by four at halftime. The Cardinals made another late run after UCLA led by 12 with six minutes remaining.

"In the nine years I've been at UCLA, I've been through the Penn States, the Princetons, the Tulsas, the Detroits," Lavin said after the game. "I've always said offseasons in Los Angeles can be pretty miserable."

The worst-case scenario now: the Bruins, who've won seven in a row, lose to Maryland on Saturday. That would be a lot better than going home with a loss to Ball State, regardless of what one thinks of the Mid-American Conference.

UCLA, after all, is a team that had three McDonald's All-Americans at tipoff -- on the bench.

This is also a team that appeared headed for the NIT before a late-season surge that included a dramatic victory at then-No. 1 Stanford. When things aren't going well, UCLA fans want a slick bench coach, not slicked back hair. Lavin is only the latest to feel the heat.

"At the end of my senior year (of high school), he was rookie coach of the year," junior guard Earl Watson said of Lavin. "So, I don't know how he can go from rookie coach of the year to being the worst coach to coach at UCLA. And his numbers are not that bad, when you look at the winning percentage."

UCLA's Dan Gadzuric slams home two of his 10 points.(AP)

But once somebody's coaching comes into question, every turnover, every shot-clock violation, every little thing becomes his fault. Ask DePaul coach Pat Kennedy.

On Thursday, UCLA took an 18-9 lead on Dan Gadzuric's thundering, one-hand, alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass. The crowd roared with approval. After the Bruins blocked a shot on the other end, they came down on a break with a chance to increase their lead. Watson went for a showtime play. He bounced the ball off the backboard, expecting JaRon Rush to slam it behind him.

The result was a turnover. Ball State converted it into an uncontested layup, and the Cardinals went on to take a 26-22 lead at halftime.

"If that play had gone the other way for our team, it would have been a great spark," Watson said.

But it didn't go the other way. The spark went into Ball State.

"We were so anxious to put the dagger in them that we went too fast," Lavin said. "We forced things."

If this game had turned out to be a loss, that's exactly the kind of play people would have used to hang Lavin.

Instead, the fourth-year coach is still standing. He has a team that was written off weeks ago, but one with enough talent to find its way to Detroit for the regional semifinals.

"It's about surviving and advancing," Lavin said of the tournament. "There are a lot of teams that win ugly. Just to make the field of 32 is a big step. Now we have to go from here."