Most schools judge a win in the NCAA Tournament as a sign of a successful season. Not at UCLA.
“In order for it to be historic and in the same breath as Coach (John) Wooden, we?d have to make something very special happen and that would be a Final Four run and hopefully a national championship,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “In Pauley Pavilion, you don?t see Final Four banners. The only thing they hang in there are national championship banners.”
The Bruins (33-3) eclipsed the school?s record for most wins in a season last week, but in Westwood, Calif., which is home to a Division I-best 11 national championships, winning is expected.
UCLA can take another step toward its first national championship since 1995 and make its third consecutive Final Four apperance tonight at 6:40 against third-seeded Xavier at U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix.
But the road this point hasn?t been easy for the Pac-10 champion.
The top-seeded Bruins rolled over Mississippi Valley State, 70-29 in the opening round, before surviving 9th-seeded Texas A&M, 51-49 and holding off 12th-seeded Western Kentucky, 88-78.
“We are skating on thin ice, but we?re winning these games,” point guard Darren Collison, who averages 14.7 points and 3.7 assists per game, said. “We don?t want to continue to have these bad starts, we want to strive for having good starts.”
“They keep saying it?s a conspiracy and everybody hates UCLA now,” freshman forward Kevin Love, who averages 17.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, said. “But we?re not feeding into that too much.”
Xavier (30-6) also is enjoying a record-setting season.
The Musketeers have won a school-record number of games and are appearing in the Elite Eight for the first time since losing to Duke in 2004. Third-seeded Xavier, however, has never been to the Final Four.
But the way the Musketeers are playing, they have a great chance to make history tonight.
Xavier opened the tournament with a 73-61 win over 14th-seeded Georgia, before handling sixth-seeded Purdue, 85-78, and rallying for a 79-75 overtime win against seventh-seeded West Virginia.
Against the Mountaineers, the Musketeers trailed 71-65 in the extra session, but ended the game on a 14-4 run to extend their season.
“Anyone who watched [us against West Virginia] saw a phenomenal game,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “This team is very resilient. We found a way to win in a fantastic game.”
The Musketeers are led by one of the most balanced attacks in the country, featuring forwards Josh Duncan (12.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Derrick Brown (10.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg), C.J. Anderson (10.8 ppg, 6 rpg), B.J. Raymond (10.1 ppg, 3 rpg) and guard Drew Lavender (10.9 ppg, 4.5 apg).
To the Xavier players, the recipe for an upset of the Bruins is the same one they used against West Virginia.
“Just not giving up,” Duncan said. “Believing we were going to come back and win. We?ve been in so many tough situations throughout the year; instead of giving up and panicking, we stayed poised.”
