Notes: Fizer hoping all Cyclones get respect

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Brandon Brooks, a mid-season addition to the team, took off with the ball Saturday for a coast-to-coast dunk, the first field goal of his UCLA basketball career. Oh, man, Maryland coach Gary Williams had to be fuming.

Coaches just hate it when they give up dunks to water polo goalies.

But it was that kind of day for the Bruins, national champions in water polo and ... well, don't laugh about any big dreams for basketball.

Ask Maryland, 105-70 losers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Toward the end, guard Steve Blake sat slumped on the bench with his cheek resting on his fist. Williams took it all in on the sideline, stone-faced and in a catcher's squat.

"I don't know if anyone could have beaten UCLA tonight," Maryland forward Terence Morris said.

Amid a host of fan-friendly lobs and dunks, the ineptitude of only a few weeks ago seemed far away as the Bruins showed off their athleticism and depth at the time it matters most.

"It feels like I'm still dreaming now," UCLA sophomore JaRon Rush said in the locker room.

They were headed back to Los Angeles on a Saturday night flight and will return to the Midwest for Thursday's regional semifinal game against Iowa State in Auburn Hills, Mich. Losers of six of seven games by mid-February, UCLA crushed highly regarded Maryland, which last month won at Duke. The Bruins shot 72 percent from the floor in the first half and 62 percent for the game.

"I think the country can see that UCLA is at full strength now," said Rush, who missed 24 games this season while serving an NCAA suspension. "This is what we would have been at the beginning of the season, but it only happened lately. Now we're rolling in the tournament with it."

Nobody is rolling like junior point guard Earl Watson, who has heard so much trash from the home crowd at Pauley Pavilion that he asked coach Steve Lavin when every game would stop feeling like a road game.

On Saturday, Watson put up dream numbers in the box score -- 17 points, 16 assists and zero turnovers.

"The last few weeks, I've said Earl was playing as well as any point in the conference," Lavin said. "Now I would say Earl Watson is playing as well as any point guard in the country."

Sometimes, though, UCLA's high-flying style gets out of hand, such as during the first-round victory over Ball State. Watson, apparently still buzzing from Dan Gadzuric's one-handed alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass, tried a highlight-film play of his own. Leading a fast break, he threw the ball off the backboard in hopes of Rush slamming it behind him.

Instead, there was a turnover, and Ball State not only got back in the game but eventually took the lead.

Steve Lavin's Bruins can get out of hand with highlight-reel plays, but Saturday they run right over Maryland. (AP)

Lavin said there's a fine line for a coach to walk in that situation. He doesn't want to take away spontaneity and aggressiveness. After all, an alley-oop dunk can sometimes be worth more than two points, or so it seems.

"Oh yeah, big time," Rush said. "When you get a lob, the crowd gets into it, you're excited, the intensity picks up, the defense picks up. Everything picks up. That's why I like it."

The Watson-to-Rush combination has been clicking for several years. Both men are from Kansas City.

"I've been doing that since JaRon could dunk," Watson said.

"About seventh grade," Rush said. "We just know each other so well. The only thing you have to do is make eye contact. He sees me cutting to the rim. It's all good from there."

For the Bruins to get to the Final Four, they will have to beat the Cyclones and all-America Marcus Fizer, not to mention Michigan State lurking as a potential opponent in the regional final -- in its home state. But after eight victories in a row, UCLA has a lot of confidence.

The players, however, are taking it in stride. Two years ago, UCLA went to the regional semifinals and lost to Kentucky.

"I can see a total difference between the two teams," Watson said. "This team was more mature in the locker room. We were saying, 'Let's start practicing and get ready for Iowa State.' ... We want to leave with some kind of ring, but we have a long way to go. We're not even halfway there yet."

Rush said it's not the time to start thinking about the Final Four

"When we start thinking that is when we get there," he said.