UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love might not be the best player in the country, but the 6-foot-10, 271-pounder is playing like it.
Love scored 19 points, had 11 rebounds and added seven blocks, including one with just seconds remaining, to preserve his top-seed team?s 51-49 win over ninth-seeded Texas A&M on Saturday night.
And after the wild finish, the Pac-10 Player and Freshman of the Year?s coach was still in awe.
“Kevin?s two little fallaways were incredible shots,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “Those are like little H-O-R-S-E shot plays, unbelievable with that kind of stuff on the line. Your season?s on the line and he could step up and make those plays. That?s why he?s a great player.”
Love was more modest.
“It?s survive and move on,” he said. That?s what we had to do. We had to find a way to win, but hopefully next round we?ll jump out ahead early and hopefully it will stay that. It just shows you in March, anybody can win.”
And that anybody ? the Aggies (25-11) ? nearly did.
Texas A&M led by three at halftime and as many as 10 in the second half, but couldn?t hold on for the win. A layup by junior guard Darren Collison gave UCLA (33-3) a 51-49 lead with 9.5 seconds remaining, and Love combined with Josh Shipp on a block with just three seconds remaining to keep his team?s bid for a third straight trip to the Final Four alive.
“Once the time clock goes zero, zero, we?ll stop playing,” Collison, who had a game-high 21 points, said. “We?ve been through that all season. We knew what we had to do; we knew who was going to win, and all the coaches said we just had to do the right things to win the game.”
To the Bruins, the right things are tough-nosed, aggressive man-to-man defense.
In the first round of the Tournament, UCLA pounded 16th-seeded Mississippi Valley State, 70-29. If the Bruins, who set a school record with 33 victories, want to add to their Division I-record 11 national championships, they must get a performance similar to that on Thursday night in Phoenix against 12th-seeded Western Kentucky (29-6).
The Hilltoppers reached the Sweet 16 by upsetting fifth-seeded Drake and 13th-seeded San Diego. But Howland knows better than to let his team lose focus.
“These guys have worked very hard all season long to get to be a No. 1 seed,” he said. “Nothing is guaranteed. Anybody can beat anybody.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
