Freshman, UCLA overwhelmed competition in K.C.

Sensational freshman Kevin Love led UCLA to the CBE Classic title with 39 points and 27 rebounds in two games. Jamie Squires/Getty Images

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The buzz around here may be about Saturday's Kansas-Mizzou football game, but there was some pretty good college hoops on the docket at the CBE Classic, which was played at the new downtown Sprint Center. I enjoy coming to these two-day events because it gives me a chance to see good teams play twice in person.

As if that weren't enough to satisfy my roundball jones, I also took a drive out to Lawrence on Tuesday afternoon to have lunch with Bill Self and the Kansas coaching staff. So before you settle into your big Thanksgiving meal, allow me to serve up some appetizing Hoop Thoughts from my up-close look at the K.C. Quintet.

UCLA

The bodies lay scattered around Kevin Love like collateral damage. During UCLA's 71-59 win over Maryland on Monday night, Terps' starting center Bambale Osby fouled out with 3:59 remaining. Power forward James Gist picked up his fifth with 1:09 left. Meanwhile, Michigan State's box score from its 68-63 loss on Tuesday night should have been written in black and blue ink: Idong Ibok, five fouls in nine minutes. Drew Naymick, five fouls in 15 minutes. Goran Suton, four fouls (and no points) in 20 minutes. Raymar Morgan, four fouls in 21 minutes.

In two games here, Love went 16 for 24 from the foul line and had a total of 39 points and 27 rebounds. Against the Spartans, the free throw disparity was so great (UCLA had 31 attempts to Michigan State's 15) that Tom Izzo said afterward, "I was disappointed in the way [the game] called, to be honest. If [Love] can move around the way he wants, displace guys, I disagree with that and I'll say that publicly."

That, my friends, will be a consistent theme in the Pac-10 this season. Maybe the refs called the game tighter than the Spartans are used to experiencing in the rough and tumble Big Ten, but the fact is, Love is so wide, strong and smart that defenders are left with no choice but to hack him. And if there's one thing more impressive than Love's guile in the post, it's his passing ability. So if teams try to counter by double teaming him, he'll be sure to make them pay.

That said, UCLA was extremely fortunate to come away from Kansas City with two wins. The Bruins trailed Michigan State by as many as 13 points and didn't take a lead until Luc Richard Mbah a Moute buried a three-pointer with 28 seconds to play. The bottom line for them is, this team really, really needs to get healthy. Russell Westbrook has done a capable job filling in for the injured Darren Collison at the point, but he is not nearly the defender, floor leader or long-range shooter that Collison is. Michael Roll is more critical to this team than most people realize. Nor is UCLA all that deep to begin with; Howland essentially used a six-man rotation against the Spartans.

Still, if UCLA went long stretches these two nights looking like anything but a potential championship team, it definitely showed championship mettle. In the end, that's what counted most. "One thing I love about our team is our guys never give up -- ever," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "They showed a lot of moxie and poise."

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