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The Bruins take Western Kentucky, 88-78
Kevin Love scored a career high 29 points leading UCLA in their game against the Hilltoppers.
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March 31, 2008 (FPRC) -- With a 21 point halftime lead, UCLA beat Western Kentucky 88-78 in the NCAA Western Regional. The Bruins will play Xavier on the way to their 3rd consecutive Final Four. They managed to survive the game against the Hilltoppers, who took advantage their sloppy play to get ahead within four points late in the game. UCLA definitely did not play up to par in the second half. If they continue playing that poorly, they're not going to be in this tournament much longer.
UCLA beat Mississippi Valley State in the first round but haven't been performing like a Number 1 seeded team since then. They managed to beat Texas A&M by 2 points in the second round. Without Kevin Love, UCLA would be in far worse shape by now. He had 14 rebounds and shot 10 of 14 shots from the floor. James Keefe, also had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Recovering from shoulder surgery last year, Keefe hasn't been playing that much this season. Tyrone Brazelton scored 31 points and Courtney Lee got 18 points for Western Kentucky, who dug themselves into a hole in the first half.
Things looked good for UCLA at first after creaming the Hilltoppers with a 23-4 run in the middle of the first half. They led 41-20 at halftime, but Western Kentucky let up. The Hilltoppers played tough, and the Bruins started to come undone. They had 12 turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the second half and ended with 19 which is a season high.
UCLA was in trouble when Darren Collison fouled out with 5:39 left. He had 4 points and 4 turnovers but didn't read the plays right. The Hilltoppers took the lead to 61-57 with 6:50 to left. Brazelton scored 8 unanswered points in under a minute, on consecutive 3 pointers and a lay-up. Slaughter missed a 3 pointer that pulled Western Kentucky within one point when Love scored. Josh Shipp, hit a 3 to push the Bruin's lead to 68-59 with 4:30 on the clock.
UCLA didn't let the Hilltoppers draw closer than 6 the rest of the game. They ended with a 12 game winning streak but they hadn't been dominant. Five of their last eight wins had been by 3 points or less and another came after they forced overtime. The Hilltoppers won 8 consecutive games and reached the round of 16 for the first time in years. At Number 12, Western Kentucky was the lowest remaining seed in the tournament. They had 4 turnovers in the first few minutes of the game, getting more turnovers than field goals the first half.
Lee made 2 of his first 13 shots from the floor. Both Jeremy Evans and D.J. Magley fouled Love in a 5 second span in the 1st minute. Evans got his 2nd foul in the first 3 minutes of the game. The Bruins have had difficulty being offense in recent games. Darren Collison and Kevin Love scored 40 of their 51 points in the 2nd round win against Texas A&M. However, things changed during the 23-4 run in the first half.
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Keywords:
NCAA, UCLA, basketball
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