Coach: Ben Howland, five years at UCLA, four years in NCAA
Tournament
How they got here: Automatic bid (Pac-10 champion); West first round: def.
No. 16 seed Mississippi Valley State 70-29; West second round: def. No. 9
seed Texas A&M 51-49; West semifinals: held off
Western Kentucky 88-78; West final: dominat
ed No. 3 seed Xavier 76-57.
They'll keep winning if: Ben Howland tabbed the 2008 Bruins by far the best of his last three
teams. All three reached the Final Four. The 2006 and '07 teams failed to win the national title. Why will this
year be different? The Bruins tangle with Memphis, which means UCLA doesn't have to see Florida. But these
Tigers bring a new set of challenges, starting with defense, depth and overall athleticism, to the degree that coach
John Calipari can present enough lineup combinations to make the Bruins dizzy. Memphis boasts far more depth
than UCLA and the Tigers are eager to push the ball in transition, whereas the Bruins are possession-conscious
but don't operate with the parking brake engaged. The battle-tested Bruins have a bevy of players on the roster who
have something Memphis lacks -- Final Four experience. Hardened by losses in the Final Four each of the past two
years, the likes of point guard Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute -- all juniors -- are integral
core players with extensive big-game, NCAA Tournament seasoning. Collison is steady at the point. His size isn't an
asset, but his quickness and cool under pressure have been. He's the team's most accurate 3-point shooter and
has come up big in tight moments, including a game-winning score against Texas A&M. Shipp has been fighting it
recently, hitting just one shot against Xavier and 9 of 27 shots in the NCAA Tournament. He'll need to get it going for
UCLA to bring a well-rounded offense to San Antonio. UCLA's centerpiece is freshman Kevin Love, who put up an
average of 21.8 points, 10 boards and 4.3 blocks in four tournament games preceding the Final Four.
Memorable moment: The Bruins clinched their third straight regular-season Pac-10 title with
a 77-67 overtime victory over Stanford at Pauley Pavilion. The game featured a controversial climax when Stanford's
Lawrence Hill was called for a foul on a seemingly clean block of a shot by Darren Collison with 2.5 seconds left.
Collison made both free throws and the Bruins won in overtime.
Kevin Love
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Go-to guys: Arron Afflalo was the best pure shooter on the Bruins' back-to-back Final Four teams. But UCLA's current starting unit features as many as four players willing to take the big shot. Freshman center Kevin Love, for instance, hit a difficult, double-clutch 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to set up the comeback win over Cal in March, which was secured when Josh Shipp made an even more difficult -- likely illegal -- basket by floating a shot over the top corner of backboard with 1.5 seconds left. Shipp struggled all the way to the Final Four with his stroke, but he and Love scored big baskets down the stretch against Western Kentucky and Darren Collison made a tough one under pressure to beat Texas A&M.
Strengths: Love is becoming a matchup nightmare. He doesn't often force it but is now hitting from 17 feet and beyond with consistency. The Bruins are balanced offensively, run an efficient fast break that can produce points in a hurry and play tough defense. They have a mix of experience and youth and a battle-tested coach. And they are motivated to not only reach the Final Four for a third straight season, but to add their 12th national championship banner.
Weaknesses: UCLA does not boast great depth, especially in the backcourt. Darren Collison
and Russell Westbrook play heavy minutes and the Bruins cannot afford either to become injured -- Collison in
particular has been injury-prone -- or get into serious foul trouble.
Coach: Rick Byrd, 22 years at Belmont, three years in NCAA Tournament.
How they got here: Automatic bid (Atlantic Sun champion).
Memorable moment: The Bruins were 0-14 all-time vs. members of the Big East and the SEC before registering road wins at Cincinnati and Alabama during a tremendous 10-day stretch in November. Belmont shot 52 percent and snapped the Bearcats' streak of 42 consecutive victories in home openers and made 11 3-pointers in Tuscaloosa.
Justin Hare
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Go-to guys: Justin Hare has made 14 baskets in his career that either won a game or forced OT, including a jumper with 2.2 seconds left at Alabama. Shane Dansby captured Atlantic Sun tournament MVP honors by knocking down 7-of-12 treys. At 6-foot-8, Matthew Dotson is a tough perimeter matchup and is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range.
They'll keep winning if: Taking care of the ball against Duke's perimeter pressure will decide whether Belmont is in the game beyond halftime. Accurate passing and methodical ball movement are the keys to the Belmont prolific perimeter offense. In the conference championship vs. Jacksonville, the Bruins had 21 assists on 28 field goals. They led the league in assists (17.4 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.19) and were second in turnover margin (plus-1.8).
Strengths: Five different players made at least 40 3-pointers this season for Belmont, which attempted over 300 more 3-point shots than its opponents. As of March 10, they topped Division I in 3-pointers made (349). During their current 13-game winning streak, the Bruins have made nine or more threes in 12 games.
Weaknesses: Belmont is vertically challenged. The tallest members of the rotation -- 6-foot-9 Keaton Belcher and 6-8 Matthew Dotson -- score most of their points from the outside and rarely get to the charity stripe. Free-throw shooting is another sore spot. In their two league losses, the Bruins shot a combined 56 percent (20-of-36) from the line.
