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By Christina Teller

Daily Bruin Senior Staff Welcome to “Bruin Bandwagon 2002,” one of the wildest rides around.

Before the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, about 15 members of the media showed up to interview the UCLA men’s basketball team. On Tuesday, upward of 50 swarmed Pauley Pavilion, trying to get a piece of the Sweet 16 Bruins. “I’m not surprised. Coach Lavin warned us about that. Even during our low points,” Dijon Thompson said. “(Lavin) warned us this would happen. That’s how it works. I have to tip my hat to Lavin. It’s not easy at all to go through what he goes through.”

But the media is not alone in their renewed interest. After upsetting No. 1 seed Cincinatti on Sunday, the hopes of Bruin fans have been revived. All 1,250 tickets that the UCLA Central Ticket Office was given to sell are gone. With the Western Regional held just 335 miles north of Westwood, No. 8-seeded UCLA (21-11) looks to have a sort of homecourt advantage when it faces No. 12-seeded Missouri (23-11) on Thursday. “I have a lot of friends and family coming to the game,” Matt Barnes said, “but we have to focus on the task at hand.”

The last time the Bruins faced the Tigers was in the second game of UCLA’s 1995 National Championship run. Tyus Edney made the game-winning shot, after going the length of the court, giving UCLA the 75-74 win. UCLA head coach Steve Lavin was an assistant then. He remembers jumping off the bench when the shot fell and running on the court in celebration. He is the only member of the current Bruin family to have been a part of a national championship, and with their advancement to their fifth Sweet 16 in six years, UCLA is one step closer to another one. “This is my fourth Sweet 16, and now the goal is to get past it,” Billy Knight said. “We don’t want to get overconfident now. Now it’s just win two more games. And then there’s two more after that. Our goal is the Final Four.”

The Bruins face a Missouri team that is quite similar to their own. Both squads started the year with a top-five ranking. Both teams were expected to be conference champions. Both teams fell short of these and other goals. “There are a very talented team, just like us. They have all the tools,” Jason Kapono said. “I expect an up-tempo game.” But both teams are at this point, playing in arguably the toughest bracket.

The winner advances to the regional final against the winner of the Arizona-Oklahoma game, both of which are conference champions. But first things first. Missouri presents sharp-shooting obstacles for the Bruins. Kareem Rush, younger brother of former Bruin JaRon Rush, and Clarence Gilbert lead the Tigers in scoring. Gilbert and Rush rank first and second in the Big-12 in three-pointers per game. The Tigers are led by point guard Wesley Stokes, who is a childhood friend of Cedric Bozeman.

Stokes averages 4.12 assists in 23.5 minutes per game. The Bruins are coming off their best game of the season, with five players scoring in double figures, including Barnes and Kapono combined for 36 points in the final 30 minutes, and neither Bozeman nor Ryan Walcott committing a turnover. “It was the best 30 minutes of my life,” Kapono said. “It was a great game to be a part of. It showed how good we could be.”