Terrence Williams was the star player for the University of Louisville. His height of 199cm made him highly regarded by the media and scouts, as swingmen are still popular.
Earl Clark was even more versatile, playing both small forward and power forward. At 209cm with the skills of a forward, his draft prospects were excellent, with a first-round selection seemingly guaranteed.
After all, 2009 was a weak draft year, with a plethora of guards. Forwards and big men were rare commodities.
The University of Louisville's first possession saw the ball go to Clark in the paint. Facing the tenacious defense of UCLA's interior player, he didn't force a shot and passed the ball back out to Williams.
"Terrence Williams reportedly provoked Kayce before the game. I love watching their matchup!" Commentator B shared a bit of gossip.
Kayce also liked his opponent. Seeing him deliberately show off his dribbling, Kayce stepped forward and engaged in physical contact. Taking advantage of Williams' unstable dribbling, Kayce directly stole the ball.
His 215cm wingspan played a huge role. After the steal, Kayce immediately accelerated and threw down a remarkably fluid one-handed dunk.
"Slam!" The ball was forcefully put into the basket.
Kayce looked at Williams, who was retreating on defense, and made a shrugging gesture.
UCLA fans were already cheering. Williams looked at Kayce's nonchalant taunt and felt a surge of anger.
Fortunately, the game had just begun. The University of Louisville continued to attack the paint, scoring 2 points.
Collison signaled a play to his teammates. It was still UCLA's usual Spain pick-and-roll. Kayce received the ball after popping out from the screen and immediately drove with his left hand.
Williams desperately tried to physically contest Kayce and attempt a steal.
However, Kayce suddenly executed a step-back jump shot, leaning back slightly, and gracefully released a mid-range shot.
"Swish!" The 2-point shot went in cleanly. The entire offensive sequence was quick and fluid.
"A beautiful jump shot! Kayce made a very smart offensive choice this time. The natural step-back created excellent shooting space!" Commentator B began to lavish praise.
The University of Louisville seemed unaccustomed to UCLA's overall suffocating defense, and their ball movement suffered.
Clark attempted another floater in the paint, a forced shot that clanked off the rim. Kayce successfully secured the rebound, passed it to Holiday, and began to speed up the offensive tempo.
UCLA's continuous drives and dishes, along with quick ball movement, eventually led to Collison capitalizing on an open 3-point opportunity.
Williams brought the ball across half-court directly. Facing Kayce's defense, he immediately accelerated and drove. Kayce gave him his left hand, precisely to force him to drive to the left.
As expected, finishing with his weak hand was ineffective. Kayce easily grabbed the rebound, passed it to Collison, and accelerated the pace again.
Holiday set a back screen, giving Kayce an open look on the perimeter. The pass was on target, Kayce caught the ball, and shot a jump shot from beyond the arc.
"Swish!" No suspense, the 3-pointer went in.
The crowd cheered. The team had a good start, and this shot was exciting to watch!
Coach Ben applauded from the sidelines, signaling to his players to keep playing like this and stay focused.
On the next offensive possession, Williams tried to shake off Kayce's defense with a screen, but Kayce squeezed through the screen very agilely, successfully bothering his shot.
"Clank!" As expected, it was a miss, and UCLA successfully secured the defensive rebound.
Collison once again sped across half-court. After a series of handoffs, Kayce held the ball beyond the 3-point line, facing Clark's defense.
Seeing his opponent sticking close, Kayce lowered his center of gravity and accelerated directly with a right-hand dribble to drive.
Clark followed Kayce closely, but Kayce suddenly stopped short. Seeing Clark stumble, he instantly executed a crossover dribble, successfully breaking through the defense with his left hand.
Facing the help defender, he immediately stopped and executed a fade away.
"Swish!" The 2 points went in successfully.
On this possession, Kayce showed off his ball-handling skills with flair, demonstrating his equal proficiency with both hands.
Britney, on the sidelines, saw Kayce shining again and jumped up and down, cheering excitedly.
"This play was amazing! Kayce easily got past Clark's defense. The University of Louisville can't stop him!" Commentator A shouted.
UCLA's continuous scoring forced the University of Louisville to call a timeout.
"Very good, maintain this rhythm. Collison, if the opponent retreats quickly, slow down the pace, drive and dish, and move the ball quickly."
Coach Ben constantly emphasized important points to his players.
Kayce felt he was in excellent form today, mainly because the opposing defense wasn't putting much pressure on him, and his shot was hot. He felt like the basket was as wide as the ocean.
Coming out of the timeout, Williams, through a successful screen, took a mid-range jump shot, scoring 2 points and helping his team stabilize the situation.
UCLA's players felt the intensity of the opponent's defense increase. Continuous off-ball screens didn't create good opportunities.
Kayce realized the play had broken down, so he directly called for the ball at the 45-degree angle of the free-throw line. Facing his defender, he backed down, dribbling closer to the basket.
Suddenly, a series of shoulder fakes completely fooled the defender, and he turned around for a fade away.
"Swish!" The fade away was beautiful, scoring 2 points.
"Look at that move! It reminds me of Kobe. The same fade away, it's really so similar!" Both commentators exclaimed loudly.
How could it not be similar?
Kayce learned from Jordan, and Kobe also learned from Jordan. After all, Jordan was the pinnacle of that technique.
The University of Louisville players were already a bit stunned.
What was going on? Such technical moves, and such an absurdly high shooting percentage, were starting to break their spirits.
Sure enough, on the next offensive possession, Williams impatiently tried to respond to Kayce, but angrily clanked a shot off the rim.
Kayce grabbed the long rebound and immediately pushed the ball up the court for a fast break.
Facing Williams' defense, he executed a crossover dribble followed by a huge in-and-out move.
Williams was completely faked out and fell to the ground. The fans in the arena let out a gasp.
After successfully breaking through, Kayce immediately accelerated, jumped off both feet, and, facing Clark's direct defense, threw down a one-handed tomahawk dunk!
"Slam!" The ball went in, the defender was posterized, and the whistle blew.
The basket counted, and-one! Kayce pounded his chest and roared.
His teammates cheered excitedly, and the towels of the bench hype squad flew through the air.
The crowd was absolutely thrilled, howling and screaming, as the impact of that poster dunk was just too powerful.
"That was incredible! My God, from the crossover to the dunk, it was amazing!" Both commentators shouted in unison.
During the free throw, Kayce calmly said, "Keep it up, guys, you almost stopped me!"
He calmly made the free throw and turned to get back on defense.
The University of Louisville players had collectively broken down, playing with increasing urgency. Williams, from beyond the arc, clanked shot after shot.
Kayce had good luck; the long rebounds kept coming his way.
When he received the ball and was double-teamed, Kayce didn't panic at all.
His height wasn't for show; he smoothly dished an assist to Holiday, who cut to the basket.
As the first half was nearing its end, UCLA led by a significant margin, 43 to 26.
With 15 seconds left, Kayce controlled the ball for the last possession. At the 10-second mark, two defenders tried to double-team him, but Kayce deftly slipped through them.
Facing Clark who stepped up to defend, he directly shot a floater.
"Swish!" It went in again.
UCLA fans were already in a frenzy, the arena a surging sea of white.
The University of Louisville's coach's timeouts in the first half had no effect. They could only hope for their players to perform better in the second half.
Unfortunately, it was already over!
Kayce wasn't just a random player. In the second half, facing targeted double-teams, he began to frequently dish out assists to his teammates.
Although his scoring decreased, UCLA ultimately defeated the University of Louisville 78 to 58, successfully advancing to the Sweet Sixteen!
At the end of the game, Kayce recorded an astonishing triple-double: 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, breaking many records.
He would definitely be the headline of NCAA tomorrow.
Kayce calmly waved to the UCLA fans on the sidelines.
"This feeling of showing off is so great…" Kayce thought to himself, feeling delighted.