UCLA's Defense Is Tale Against Tigers

UCLA 50, Memphis 45

OAKLAND, Calif., March 25 -- With 14 minutes remaining in the Oakland Region final, pandemonium broke out at Oakland Arena. UCLA had hit a free throw. Bruins fans, out in full force from up and down the coast, rose and high-fived one another across the aisles in perhaps one of the largest displays of sarcasm in American sporting history.

There was plenty of absurdity to go around here Saturday, most notably the final score: UCLA 50, Memphis 45. The top-seeded Tigers had averaged 81 points per game this season; they reached 40 with 12 seconds remaining, their players desperately heaving shots against the rising din of the partisan crowd.

One reason for their futility was a Bruins defense that threw up human roadblocks in front of every incipient fast break. But another was basic ineptitude: Memphis, almost totally moribund at times, made 10 of 36 shots in the first half, 2 of 17 three-point attempts and shot 31.5 percent overall.

"We picked a day to miss 15 one-footers," Memphis Coach John Calipari said.

Asked if he thought it was possible for any team to hold the Tigers to 45 points, Calipari responded: "No."

UCLA will play Louisiana State in its first Final Four since 1995, when the Bruins last won it all. After scoring the final 11 points to beat Gonzaga on Thursday, and then putting up an effort that will be widely described as ugly and even strange, UCLA undoubtedly will come into Indianapolis billed as the latest team of destiny.

In the end, UCLA hit 20 of 39 free throws. Guard Arron Afflalo, whose free throw touched off the wild celebration, made 9 of 10. Afflalo's line alone summed up the Bruins' odd offensive performance: He led UCLA with 15 points on 2-of-9 shooting, both field goals coming on three-pointers in the first half. Center Ryan Hollins, who made just 2 of 11 free throws but dominated Memphis inside, was named most valuable player of the region.

"We'll work on our foul shooting, I promise you," Bruins Coach Ben Howland said. "But the defense was just incredible."

Throughout the afternoon, Memphis, which had the 10th-highest scoring offense in the country this year, gave the impression that it was about to explode. But the moment never came. The Tigers missed all 10 of their three-point attempts in the first half. Forward Rodney Carney, billed throughout the tournament as a future NBA lottery pick, was the invisible man. Guarded closely by Afflalo, he scored just five points on 2-of-12 shooting. After missing a running four-footer in the first half, Carney continued into the lane and brought his arm down like an ax in frustration against a Bruins defender.

One of the game's enduring images came at the end of the first half, with Memphis trailing, 28-21. As the buzzer sounded, Calipari shuffled off the court, walking with a slight limp from a hip replacement, his face contorted in the expression of a man who had just ingested a bar of soap. Waiting for him under the Memphis basket was a CBS camera crew, to whom he would have to explain how his high-octane offense had been held to just 21 points.

Calipari was still looking for answers after the game, mixing his bewilderment with rueful analysis.

"I'll be honest; I think we defended pretty well," he said at one point. "We just couldn't make a basket. Please make a basket. Make a free throw, anything, [a] hook. Kick one in."

"You got one assist from your point guards," one questioner said. "Is that staggering?"

"It's not normal. It's not normal," Calipari said. "But, again, you have to understand, every time they pass to somebody, the guy missed a shot. You're not going to have a whole lot of assists when you give a guy a layup, and he banks it off the back of the rim."

Perhaps the most shocking moment of the game came with 2 minutes 17 seconds remaining in the first half, when Memphis couldn't even get off a shot and was cited for a clock violation.

Memphis's shots often missed so badly they ricocheted well away from the basket to another Tigers player, who invariably put up the ball himself and then missed. During one first-half sequence in which Memphis missed seven straight shots, guard Darius Washington Jr. missed a layup off a fast break, forward Shayne Williams missed a wide-open 15 footer from the right side, guard Antonio Anderson missed a wide-open 15-footer from the left side, and guard Andre Allen missed a three-point shot from the top of the key so badly that the ball struck the backboard first.

The Tigers outrebounded the Bruins 41-36, but 16 were offensive rebounds off errant shots.

With 9:28 remaining in the first half, Memphis found itself trailing 21-9 and took a timeout.

When play resumed, Anderson came out and heaved up a brick.