UCLA Survives Test Out West

Love Helps Top-Seeded Bruins Withstand Western Kentucky Charge: UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78

PHOENIX, March 27 -- UCLA still has the unyielding commitment to defense that helped propel the Bruins to the Final Four the past two seasons, but this year's team has demonstrated in three NCAA tournament games that it has something those two teams sorely lacked: Kevin Love.

Top-seeded UCLA squandered a 21-point halftime lead Thursday night and battled significant foul trouble late against No. 12 Western Kentucky. But the one constant was the play of Love, the freshman forward who helped the Bruins hang on for an 88-78 victory over the Hilltoppers in the West Region semifinals at U.S. Airways Center.

The Bruins advanced to play third-seeded Xavier in Saturday's region final. Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only Duke and Michigan State have made three consecutive appearances in the Final Four.

"That was another exciting game for all the Bruin fans out there," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "We want to keep you all awake and on the edge of your seats."

Western Kentucky rallied from an awful shooting effort in the first half to close to within four points. UCLA held off Western Kentucky even though the Bruins played the final six minutes without point guard Darren Collison, who fouled out.

Love led UCLA with 29 points and 14 rebounds. UCLA was also bolstered by the performance of forward James Keefe, who had career highs in points (18) and rebounds (12) and who made 7 of 9 shots from the field.

Keefe, who had surgery last summer to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, said: "This is why I came back."

Midway though the second half, Love grabbed an offensive rebound, drew a foul and made two free throws to maintain UCLA's double-digit lead. But with a little more than seven minutes remaining, Western Kentucky guard Tyrone Brazelton sank a three-pointer to bring Western Kentucky within six points. Brazelton made six three-pointers and finished with a game-high 31 points, including 25 in the second half.

"I thought we got tentative instead of attacking," Howland said.

UCLA's Josh Shipp, who was scoreless in the second-round victory over Texas A&M, made a deep three-pointer with 4 minutes 30 seconds remaining to extend the lead to nine. Thirty seconds later, Love scored on a tip-in to push the advantage back to double digits.

"I'm sitting here taking it for granted, but Kevin Love did have a pretty good line," Howland said.

Western Kentucky, which scored 101 points in its first-round overtime victory against Drake, had trouble throughout the first half scoring with any consistency against UCLA, which had allowed a total of 78 points in its first two NCAA tournament victories. The Hilltoppers tied UCLA at 13 early in the game, but the Bruins closed the first half on a 28-7 run that seemed to give them control.

The Bruins (34-3) dominated Western Kentucky (29-7) in the paint throughout, exploiting a mismatch that was evident entering the game. The Hilltoppers' starting front court of Jeremy Evans and D.J. Magley averaged fewer rebounds combined (8.5) than Love (10.6) this season.

Strong guard play helped Western Kentucky reach the round of 16, but the trio of Brazelton, Ty Rogers and Courtney Lee combined to make 4 of 24 shots in the first half. As a team, the Hilltoppers made 18.8 percent of their shots in the first half. Western Kentucky made only four field goals inside the three-point line in the first half.

Western Kentucky got off to a strong start in the second half when Rogers converted a three-point play and then stole the ball from Shipp. Lee next scored a layup off a curl to cut the deficit to 16 points.

UCLA will get a stiff challenge Saturday from Xavier, the best defensive team in the Atlantic 10. The Musketeers' perimeter players held West Virginia to 1 of 11 shooting from three-point range. They have interior players such as Derrick Brown and Jason Love who are capable of putting a body on Kevin Love throughout the game.

UCLA has looked vulnerable in its last two NCAA tournament games, but the Bruins continue to march toward a third straight appearance in the Final Four. Without their point guard on the floor in the final minutes, the Bruins can thank their freshman star for another stellar performance.

"Western Kentucky is good," Howland said. "And I am just glad we were able to have our composure as they were making their run."