PHOENIX — These days, it’s easy to be a UCLA fan.
The Bruins win. They usually do so in comfortable fashion, but if not, they find a way to pull it out anyway. They make deep tournament runs.
This year is no different.
For the third straight year, UCLA is in the Final Four. Critics won’t be able to pick apart its 76-57 win Saturday over Xavier at U.S. Airways Center. It wasn’t powered by questionable calls, only by stifling defense and cool execution on offense.
The mostly powder blue-clad crowd rested easy and chanted loud as the Bruins punched their ticket to San Antonio. They are the fifth team in the last 30 years to go to three straight Final Fours. The last was Michigan State, which went to the Final Four in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
“Obviously, it is unbelievable,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “That’s a real credit to how good our players are and how well they perform under pressure and over the last three years. It’s exciting. I’m proud and very grateful.”
Xavier guard Drew Lavender walked off the court with 1:33 remaining as a beaten man, his face buried in his jersey, trying to hold back the tears. The last game of his college career fizzled out in a 2-for-9 shooting performance with six assists and one win short of a dream.
“We lost to a great team. Today was not our day,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “UCLA was the better team. Forget our best, we didn’t play that well. We weren’t ourselves. I would have loved to make the game a better game.”
Xavier’s elimination — and UCLA’s coronation — essentially began with around four minutes left in the first half. That started a 24-8 run that spanned both halves, turning a 24-20 UCLA advantage into an impenetrable 48-28 lead with 14:38 left in the second.
The Musketeers, who finished the season 30-6, cut the lead to 12 but never got closer.
“They pressured us pretty well,” XU forward Josh Duncan said. “We weren’t knocking down shots today, and had a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers. But, I guess, that’s just how it goes sometimes.”
Defensively, the Bruins held up their reputation of being one of the nation’s best. Xavier shot just 36 percent from the field, 21 percent from 3-point range, and no one scored more than 13 points. Duncan, who made a brief name for himself with a stellar showing in the Sweet 16, was stifled by the Bruins. He finished with just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Duncan missed five of his six 3-point attempts.
“It all started on defense,” UCLA forward Kevin Love said. “We just kept getting stops.”
On the flip side, the Bruins flourished. Four players scored in double figures, led by Love’s and Darren Collison’s 19 points apiece. Love added 10 rebounds. Russell Westbrook finished with 17 points, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute recorded a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“I think this team could look back and say we did the best we could and went the farthest it could,” Miller said.
But UCLA moves on.
“This is a great accomplishment,” UCLA center Lorenzo Mata-Real said. “You don’t see this a lot, three straight Final Fours. But it’s definitely going to be bad if we don’t win it, because we worked so hard this whole year to get to this point.”
