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Bruins back among elite

The No.2-seeded Bruins stop top seed Memphis 50-45 for their first Final Four appearance since '95.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Arron Afflalo, coach Ben Howland and the rest of the Bruins have returned UCLA to the lofty level of its glory years.

Afflalo scored 15 and shut down Memphis leading scorer Rodney Carney, helping No.2 seed UCLA defeat the top-seeded Tigers 50-45 Saturday and earn a trip to Indianapolis for its first Final Four appearance since the school's 1995 NCAA championship.

Ryan Hollins added 14 points and nine rebounds and drew two charges as the Bruins, despite shooting 33.3 percent, won their 11th straight game to capture the Oakland Region in the lowest-scoring region final since the shot-clock era began in 1986.

"This is special and this is a special group of guys," UCLA senior Cedric Bozeman said. "We play defense. That's what we do. We didn't let them walk over us."

UCLA (31-6) plays in Saturday's semifinals against LSU.

The Bruins have 11 national titles, more than any other school, with 10 under Hall of Fame coach John Wooden starting in the mid 1960s. They are making their 16th Final Four appearance, tying North Carolina for the most ever.

After the final buzzer Saturday, the ecstatic Bruins quickly pulled on new T-shirts and hats. Hollins cradled the region's Most Outstanding Player trophy with his right arm while Darren Collison climbed the ladder to be the first to cut the net.

Darius Washington scored 13 to lead the Tigers (33-4), who saw their seven-game winning streak end along with the career of Carney, a possible NBA lottery pick who hoped to play his final game in his hometown of Indianapolis for the Final Four.

As both teams expected, this wasn't nearly the high-scoring game they played last time, when Memphis won 88-80 behind 26 points from Shawne Williams in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT in November at New York's Madison Square Garden.

In that game, UCLA allowed its most points this season by a team and an individual.

Defense has become the Bruins' trademark since, a stark contrast from the last time UCLA won the title. The '95 Bruins beat Connecticut 102-96 in the region final in an up-and-down game. These Bruins aren't even close to the offensive juggernaut of that '95 team with Ed O'Bannon and Tyus Edney.

"We never got going offensively, but they didn't either," Bruins point guard Jordan Farmar said. "I know I didn't do anything special offensively, but I'm the happiest guy on the planet."

Memphis' only field goal in the first 8:24 of the second half didn't even go in the basket. Washington got credit for the points on a goaltending call.

UCLA, who got this far by surviving close games, this time survived serious free-throw woes: The Bruins were 20-of-39.

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:26:15]