It started with the purchase of a few blocks of tickets behind the UCLA team bench.
It could end with what the Bruins hope is a hostile takeover of the Galen Center.
Roughly 1,000 UCLA students are expected to attend the crosstown rivalry basketball game Saturday evening thanks to a collaboration between Bruins coach Mick Cronin and Men of Westwood, the third-party media and branding agency that supports the team.
Nineteen buses have been booked to carry the students from campus to the game, which they will attend for free thanks to the generosity of Men of Westwood.
“We want to run LA,” Ken Graiwer, CEO and founder of Men of Westwood, told The California Post. “We want to be the brand of Los Angeles, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t walk down the hill to go to a game (at Pauley Pavilion), there’s no reason we shouldn’t drive across town to go to a game. We were the best home team in the Big Ten this year, and we want to take that on the road for a spin.”
The endeavor picked up momentum after Cronin filmed a video in his Encino backyard urging students to continue supporting the Bruins in the wake of several of the largest home crowds of the season. UCLA has averaged 10,907 fans for its last three home games, including a sellout of 13,659 for its 81-62 victory over USC.
“Your energy has infused the team to give greater effort, and we need to keep that up,” Cronin said in the video after his team finished the season with a 17-1 home record. “As you know, we’ve got a big game this Saturday across town, a place called the Galen Center. Let’s turn it into a sea of blue. Through Men of Westwood, we’re offering you a chance for some free tickets. We need you to get your ticket requests in as soon as possible so we can get you over to the Galen Center and turn it into Pauley Pavilion. Let’s go, keep it rolling. Go Bruins.”
After a request form was posted with a link to acquire tickets, demand mushroomed. One or two buses was no longer going to be nearly enough to transport all those students across town.
The game appears to be a sellout given that tickets are no longer being sold on USC’s athletics website. That’s a newsworthy development for a team that has averaged 5,344 fans at home this season.
The question is, how many of the fans Saturday will wear blue? Those students who travel across town will be joined by others who have purchased tickets in other sections.
UCLA fans have additional reason to pack the place given their team’s recent surge. With three wins in their last four games, the Bruins (20-10, 12-7 Big Ten) have moved off the NCAA Tournament bubble and could gain an even more favorable seeding with a coveted road victory.
Meanwhile, the Trojans (18-12, 7-12) can only hope they’ve bottomed out with six consecutive losses, not to mention the recent departure of leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara for unspecified reasons.
Cronin told reporters Friday that he expected USC freshman guard Alijah Arenas to be more aggressive for the Trojans to help them generate offense.
“They’re still a fast, athletic team,” Cronin said. “They’re at home. Everybody’s dangerous at home, guys.”
Maybe even more so if you can make yourself at home on the road.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
