UPDATE: Quite the reward: Hoosiers to play No. 2 seed UCLA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Just before the final buzzer ended IU’s 70-57 win over Gonzaga Thursday night, IU point guard Earl Calloway tapped Gonzaga guard and fellow senior Derek Raivio to offer condolences for the loss, the last game Raivio will play for the Bulldogs. \n“I told him that he’s a great player and I know it’s his last game there,” Calloway said. “He would have done the same for me.”\nCalloway didn’t have to face that reversal Thursday night. Instead, the Hoosiers earned their seniors two more nights to prepare, two more nights as IU basketball players, and maybe more. \nBut to extend their careers past Saturday night, IU seniors Calloway, Rod Wilmont and Errek Suhr and the rest of the Hoosiers face a much taller task: No. 2 seed UCLA. \nIU will be a significant underdog to the Bruins Saturday night, who steamrolled No. 15 seed Weber State 70-42, ending the mid-major’s tourney hopes almost as soon as they began. \nThe Bruins are a budding powerhouse under third-year coach Ben Howland, who took last year’s UCLA team all the way to the national title game before losing to Florida. \n “I think they have a better team this year than last year and last year they were in the final game,” IU coach Kelvin Sampson said.\nUCLA features a balanced attack, a hybrid of athleticism on the wing and strength in the post. The Bruins are led by point guard Darren Collison and shooting guard Aaron Afflalo, who average 12.7 and 16.9 points per game, respectively. Swingman Josh Shipp averages 13.4 points per game, and forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute controls the glass, pulling down 7.5 rebounds a game. \nCollectively, the Bruins hold opponents to 60.1 points per game and average 72.4, a margin good enough to earn them a 27-5 overall record heading into Saturday’s game. \nDespite that dominance, though, the Bruins have stumbled late in the season, dropping two of their five losses in their last two games before the tournament. UCLA lost their last regular season game at Washington, 61-51, and their first Pac-10 tournament game to California, 76-69.\nStill, Sampson said, the Bruins present a huge challenge to his team. \n“They’ll cause us problems with their wings,” Sampson said. “Afflalo and Shipp are long and athletic and quick. They’ll be tough. But it’s going to come down to, I think, rebounding and defense. It’s going to be a tough game for us. We’ll see.\n“UCLA’s a No. 2 team in the country, and they could arguably be a No. 1,” Sampson said. “They’re there for a reason.”\nWilmont, who scored 22 in the Hoosiers’ first round win over Gonzaga, said the team wasn’t completely familiar with UCLA. \n“Obviously, I’ve watched UCLA a little bit on TV,” Wilmont said. “But we’ll see them tonight (on tape). So we’ll just go over the scouting report. We just have to focus on ourselves, play hard defense, and everything will fall into place.”\nWilmont is one of the seniors who have the chance to extend their careers Saturday night for another week, something Sampson said he was extremely proud to see. \n“That’s something I’m really happy about,” Sampson said. “That these seniors have a chance to end their careers like this. They’ve had a rough few years, you know. I’m proud that they can go out like this.”