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Dijon Thompson leads a young UCLA team into the NCAA Tournament, foreign territory to many of the

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Hounded by questions of how they would handle the awe and hype of Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Texas Tech, Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo repeated the same mantra they’ve recited every week for the past month.

It’s just another game.

Outside of Dijon Thompson, the tournament has been a foreign concept to the Bruins. So it should come as little surprise that they would choose to approach it in the same manner that got them there.

“We’re trying to look at it as just another basketball game, even though the magnitude is a lot greater now,” Farmar said. “When you break it down, we’re going to go out and do what we’ve been doing all year.”

But the NCAA Tournament is oftentimes described as the start of a new season.

As the regular season progressed, questions about starting three freshmen slowly subsided. Yet in the days leading up to Thursday’s contest, issues of experience are beginning to reemerge. And though the young Bruins have deflected those questions by saying that the rules and objective are still the same, there is some realization that the environment will be different this Thursday.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Afflalo said. “I’m just going to go out, play comfortably and be calm.”

Yet Thompson acknowledged it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the tournament’s atmosphere. The senior forward could not recall how anxious he felt going into his lone NCAA Tournament, which is indicative of how distant the Bruins’ last tournament trip in 2002 seems.

UCLA coach Ben Howland, who in 1998 guided Northern Arizona to its first tournament appearance in school history and in 2003 took Pittsburgh to its first Sweet 16 in two decades, isn’t too worried about his team becoming unnerved.

“It’s more excitement than anxiety,” Howland said. “This is what you work hard for all season long.”

Texas Tech, meanwhile, hasn’t been surrounded by the same type of questions that have been circling the Bruins. Having reached the second round as a No. 8 seed in last year’s tournament, the Red Raiders are better acquainted with the tournament atmosphere. This year, under coach Bob Knight’s rigid motion offense, they advanced to the finals of the Big-XII Tournament before narrowly losing to Oklahoma State.

“They’re a very good screening team and set solid physical picks,” Howland said. “Their perimeter players can all shoot it, bounce it, and they have really good shot selection.”

Anchored by senior Ronald Ross, Texas Tech features a strong contingent of starting guards, who all average at least 14 points a game.

Though they took the smallest amount of 3-pointers in their conference, the Red Raiders shot the highest percentage.

In the frontcourt, Howland noted that junior Michael Fey will have to learn to defend Texas Tech’s big men who frequently play out on the perimeter.

“He has a hard time matching up with other bigs and taking them out on the perimeter,” Howland said of his starting center.

Howland has already begun looking to make the necessary adjustments. But the experience of the tournament itself is not something that can entirely be prepared for.

So the Bruins will prepare for Thursday like they have for every other game, because they know the same things will make the difference.

“It comes down to defending, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball, and taking good shots,” Howland said. “It’s the same basics you follow all year long.”