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MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Earl Watson was nothing short of brilliant and so was UCLA. With their point guard playing the game of his life, the sixth-seeded Bruins cruised into the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet 16" by crushing No. 3 Maryland, 105-70, in a Midwest Region contest at the Metrodome. Watson dished out a school-record 16 assists while scoring 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range as surging UCLA (21-11) advanced to the regional semifinals for the third time in four years and will play Iowa State on Thursday. A 6-1, 190-pound native of Kansas City, Kansas, Watson, who did not commit a turnover, broke the UCLA record of 15 assists set by Darrick Martin against Pittsburgh on February 2, 1991. He also tied New Mexico State's Sam Crawford for the second-most in an NCAA Tournament game. Mark Wade of Nevada-Las Vegas set the single-game tournament record with 18 against Indiana in 1987. Watson had 12 of his assists in the first half, which the Bruins closed on a 15-2 run to take a 49-33 advantage into the break. He emerged from the locker room in a near unconscious state. Not that that was a bad thing. Watson proceeded to drain four 3-pointers in the first 3:15 after intermission while also throwing down an alley-oop dunk off a beautiful feed from Jason Kapono. In all, UCLA made its first 11 shot attempts of the second half, the final of which was a 3-pointer from the right wing by Kapono that gave the Bruins a 70-38 lead with still almost 16 minutes left. The Terrapins got no closer than 29 points the rest of the way and UCLA led by as much as 36. Jerome Moiso and JaRon Rush scored 14 points apiece, Dan Gadzuric added 13 and Kapono had 11 with five assists. For good measure, Watson contributed four steals and even blocked a shot. The Bruins have won eight straight since Rush returned from an NCAA-imposed suspension on February 24 in a victory over Oregon. Before that game they were just 13-11 and in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. Lonny Baxter led Maryland with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Juan Dixon had 16 points and four assists but committed seven of the Terrapins' 18 turnovers. UCLA shot a blistering 62.5 percent (40-of-64) -- Maryland finished at 37 percent (26-of-70) -- and was 14-of-25 from beyond the arc. It appeared the Bruins were going to blow the game open early, jumping to a 14-2 lead in the first 4:14. Maryland, however, used a 17-5 burst to force a 19-19 tie on back-to-back 3-pointers by Tahj Holden and Dixon. But UCLA took control during the final five minutes of the first half. Rush twice converted passes by Watson into alley-oop dunks during the 15-2 run as the Bruins turned a precarious three-point advantage into a 16-point bulge. Little-used sophomore guard Ray Young even got into the action, taking a feed from Watson and draining a 3-pointer from the left corner to cap the outburst with 16 seconds remaining in the first half. Maryland did hold a 39-36 advantage on the boards but it was not nearly enough as it was eliminated before the regional semifinals for the first time in three years.
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