Memphis 78, UCLA 63
By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 6, 2008
SAN ANTONIO, April 5 -- Chris Douglas-Roberts covered his face with his jersey as the final seconds melted away, his best effort to make the "Memphis" across the front easier to read, to make the entire country more familiar with college basketball's swashbuckling new force.
Joey Dorsey walked toward him, smiling wide and his palm outstretched for a high-five. Behind them Kevin Love started vacantly in their direction, sharing a unique pain with teammates who knew it all too well.
Memphis, a band of gate-crashers from Conference USA, had usurped UCLA, a program of peerless pedigree. With a 78-63 national semifinal victory over the Bruins, Memphis is one victory from claiming the school's first title and becoming the first national champion from outside a major conference since Nevada-Las Vegas in 1990.
"I'm not surprised at all," Douglas-Roberts said. "I expected this out of my teammates. This silly thing is, we don't look at this like the Final Four, Elite Eight, Sweet 16, whatever. We just look at this as the next game. And that's the way we're looking at Monday night."
The swaggering Tigers forged their own history by adding a sour chapter to one of college basketball's most venerable programs. UCLA, which hangs only national championship banners at Pauley Pavilion, became the first team since Guy Lewis's Houston teams of the early 1980s to advance to three consecutive Final Fours without hoisting the trophy. The Bruins now have more NCAA tournament wins, 13, over the past three seasons than any other program but no titles to show for it.
Coach Ben Howland, the man who resurrected the Westwood powerhouse but has yet to deliver a national championship, walked alone off the floor before anyone else from the UCLA bench could join him. Love, the freshman sensation who lifted UCLA (35-4) to this point but shrunk on his largest stage yet, followed, serenaded with chants of "One More Year!"
"We're very disappointed to get all the way here and lose," Howland said. "It's hard to be here three years in a row and not come away with a championship. I thought this was our best, our best chance. Memphis was the better team."
For Memphis (38-1), the celebration was on.
"This is huge for the city of Memphis," Coach John Calipari said. "This right here can show a lot of young men there is hope. We still have a semi-divided city. There's no divide here. This brings them all together."
Memphis's attacking, driving offense shredded UCLA's stout defense, the foundation of the Bruins' three Final Four marches. The Memphis guard tandem of junior Douglas-Roberts and freshman Derrick Rose led the assault. Douglas-Roberts poured in a game-high 28 points with his herky-jerky style, and Rose added 25 to go with nine rebounds and four assists.
While Memphis's stars dominated, Love and junior guard Darren Collison foundered. Love scored a quiet 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, only two of his points coming in the second half. Collison, meantime, reprised his disappointing role from last year's semifinal loss to Florida. He made only 1 of 9 shots and scored two points, one fewer than last season, when he did not make a field goal. With 2 minutes 53 seconds remaining, he fouled out and mercifully ended his night.
Memphis also victimized Collison defensively. Douglas-Roberts stands 6-7, and Rose is a stout 6-3. Calipari instructed whomever the 6-foot Collison guarded to attack.
"It's like having two go-to guys," Calipari said.
The backbreaker came with just less than five minutes remaining, when Douglas-Roberts noticed his defender playing high on the perimeter, denying him the ball on the wing. So he zipped to the hoop and received a pass from Rose just outside the lane. He dribbled twice and leapt.
"If I get that close to the rim," Douglas-Roberts said. "I'm going to dunk it."
He didn't care, then, that Love stood, waiting at the hoop. Love put his hands up, but Douglas-Roberts soared over him and crammed the ball through the hoop as Love fell onto his backside.
"He didn't know I could jump like that," Douglas-Roberts said.
Perhaps Love should have realized there are few things Douglas-Roberts can't do with the ball in his hands. UCLA tried four different defenders on him, but none could contain him. He worms to the hoop with an array of spins and crossovers -- "old-man moves," Rose calls them -- and can shoot the ball from any angle.
Antonio Anderson put the finishing touches on the game with the Tigers' final shot, a "lucky" three-pointer off the glass, he said. Afterward, Calipari vowed he would pace down the River Walk by himself. Walking fast with his head down, he figured, would ensure no one noticed him.
His program, though, has forced people to take notice, and the Tigers made it clear they want everyone to know.
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