ELITE EIGHT | UCLA 68, KANSAS 55
Take it away, Bruins
Afflalo makes the big plays, and UCLA makes a return trip to the Final Four
By Diane Pucin, Times Staff Writer
SAN JOSE — Arron Afflalo felt them, five pairs of Kansas eyes staring at him. Six seconds left in the first half, Afflalo had the ball, all the Jayhawks waited, daring the UCLA junior to make a play.
Afflalo did. He passed to a wide-open Josh Shipp. Shipp made a three-pointer, the buzzer sounded, the Bruins chest-bumped their way off the floor at HP Pavilion, the crowd in full roar and the Jayhawks in retreat.
UCLA defeated Kansas, 68-55, Saturday in the NCAA West Regional final because when it mattered a Bruin made a play.
For the first time since 1975 and 1976 during the transition from John Wooden to Gene Bartow, the Bruins (30-5) will play in back-to-back Final Fours. Second-seeded UCLA will play the winner of today's Midwest Regional final between Florida and Oregon next Saturday in Atlanta.
It was the Gators who beat the Bruins in last year's national championship game. It was the Ducks who handed UCLA its first loss this season.
The Bruins ended top-seeded Kansas' 14-game winning streak and have now beaten the Jayhawks (33-5) for the fifth time in five NCAA matchups.
Afflalo, who had a game-high 24 points, four rebounds and three assists, was selected the regional's most valuable player and was humbly relieved. His assist to Shipp before halftime had helped UCLA grab a 35-31 lead. Twice he made three-pointers as the 35-second shot clock ticked to zero.
"This one means a lot to me," Afflalo said, "because over my three years here I've become more and more a leader."
Afflalo, who diagrams plays in his head, calculated every angle at the end of the half. "With five guys looking at me," he said, "I knew someone was open."
Shipp had missed last year's NCAA run as he recovered from hip surgery, but against Kansas he had nine points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and made defensive noise with his body bumping on everyone.
Yet according to Kansas Coach Bill Self, it was sophomore point guard Darren Collison who made the biggest shot of the night.
UCLA had a 55-50 lead with 5:23 left and, again, the shot clock was dwindling. Collison, beyond the top of the key, heard Bruins fans counting, "Five, four, three," so he took a step back from his defender and heard "two, one."
"So I shot," Collison said. The ball was a rainbow and it hardly touched the net. So perfect, and the 58-50 lead was deflating to the Jayhawks.
"We had some momentum then," Self said, "and that basket kept us an arm's length away."
The Jayhawks would never get closer than seven points, and when Luc Richard Mbah a Moute dunked with 25 seconds left all the Bruins started dancing. Afflalo dribbled out the last few seconds and was swallowed into the embrace of his teammates.
"It feels even better than last year," he said.
UCLA Coach Ben Howland orchestrated the postgame festivities, cutting down the net and leading the team and the fans into the UCLA eight-clap cheer.
"This was special," Howland said, "because we played our best against the best team we faced this year."
At first it seemed as if the Bruins were going to get run over by the Jayhawks. Running dunks by center Sasha Kaun. Alley-oop passes from Mario Chalmers to Darnell Jackson. As Kansas opened a 27-21 lead, it seemed as if the Bruins were getting pummeled.
"We were on our heels a little," center Alfred Aboya said. "We needed to get acclimated to the pace."
Yet even as Kansas looked bigger, stronger and faster, there was Shipp coming clean off a screen to make a three-pointer and Collison using a jump stop and a head fake on a drive to score on a layup. Freshman Russell Westbrook converted a turnover into a dunk.
Afflalo to Shipp to halftime was, Howland said, "a huge boost and it carried over."
UCLA finished with 25 turnovers to 21 for Kansas. "If someone had told me that would happen," Afflalo said, "I wouldn't think we would win."
But they did. For the 17th time UCLA will be in the Final Four, an NCAA record for at least a day. North Carolina has advanced as far 16 times and plays Georgetown today for a chance at its own 17th trip.
"We feel like we didn't finish the job last year," Collison said. "We're going to enjoy this moment."
Afflalo agreed.
"We need to feel this," he said, "and do a little better."
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