PHOENIX “”mdash; Even the Musketeers knew it was over, dribbling out the final 30 or so seconds of the game rather than hoisting 3 after desperation 3. Their season was over, and it had been since about the 15 minute mark of the second half.
UCLA really left no doubt.
With a 76-57 drubbing of No. 3 seed Xavier (30-7) in the Elite Eight that had none of the drama and desperation of the Bruins’ previous two games, UCLA (35-3) advanced to its third straight Final Four and now has perhaps its best chance since 1995 to take home another championship.
“We put ourselves in a good situation, playing all year, winning the Pac-10, getting the No. 1 seed,” junior power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said. “Now we’ve got a chance to advance to the Final Four for a third time. Obviously the last two times we’ve been there, the outcome ““ we were not pleased with the outcome. Hopefully this time we are going to advance and have a different outcome.”
UCLA never trailed against Xavier, scoring its first points on a fast break dunk from sophomore guard Russell Westbrook off of a steal and heading into halftime with a 33-24 lead.
After a five-minute blitz to open the second half up 48-28, the Bruins could begin to think about their net-cutting procedures.
After two straight games of nail-biting finishes, the Bruins were expected to have another stern test against the tough, defensive-minded Musketeers. But that sort of game never materialized; the Bruins came out with intensity to open both halves, forcing Xavier into contested shots.
In the net-cutting ceremony following the game, UCLA coach Ben Howland directed the NCAA staff on where to place the ladder. Even then, 20 minutes after advancing to the Final Four, the maestro of UCLA’s current run of success was still coaching.
Junior point guard Darren Collison, who has spent three years under Howland and will be going to his third Final Four next week, spoke for his teammates in crediting Howland with much of the Bruins’ success.
“You don’t make it to the Final Four three straight times for no reason,” Collison said. “Obviously coaching has something to do with it. (Howland) is constantly on our case, striving to make us better. Sometimes we don’t like it, but it is for our own good.”
In the waning moments of the game, the usually stern Howland actually wore a bit of a smile, albeit briefly.
After the game, Howland said the coaching staff would be able to enjoy this victory “tonight” before getting back to work on Sunday to prepare for either Memphis or Texas.
After the Tigers’ 85-67 blowout of Texas Sunday in Houston, Memphis is the team the Bruins will face Saturday in San Antonio.
Howland is now the third coach since 1985 to lead his team to three consecutive Final Fours, joining Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
Both Izzo and Krzyzewski won national championships during their runs, something Howland has his eyes set on.
“As I said before, I think this is by far the best team in the last three years because we do have a key-ingredient, inside player that can score and rebound like nobody else in the country,” Howland said. “And I think this is the best field in the Final Four … in the last three years. And that’s going to make it doubly difficult for us.”
Though his players, for the most part, intimated that the season would be a disappointment if the Bruins did not win it all, Howland said that he could not consider a third straight Final Four and a 35-win season a disappointment.
If the Bruins finally do break through and win it all, much of the credit will likely fall on the broad shoulders of freshman center Kevin Love. Love had 19 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday to earn most outstanding player of the regional honors and, in what could very well be his first and only NCAA Tournament appearance, has shouldered much of the load for the Bruins.
Love himself has welcomed the pressure on both him and his team, but he cautioned members of the media after Saturday’s game that UCLA is not just a one-man team.
“I don’t know if that’s necessarily the case,” Love said. “Coach did a great job the past two years, as well as the guys that have been here already. I’ve just got to be coachable and go in the right spots and also you’ve got to be a little bit lucky too.”
The Bruins, for the most part, were businesslike in both the net-cutting celebration and the postgame interviews.
They literally have been there, done that.
Now they hope they can finish off what has been three years in the making.
“We just want to finish the job,” senior center Lorenzo Mata-Real said.
“I don’t want this net; I want another net,” Collison said.
Beginning next Saturday, the Bruins will get one more shot at that elusive title.