UCLA Earns Elite Eight Date

WEST REGIONAL -------------

(1) UCLA 88, (12) WKU 78 ------------------------

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- UCLA nearly blew a 21-point lead, but the Bruins are now just one win away from its third straight Final Four appearance. Freshman Kevin Love scored a season-high 29 points and added 14 rebounds as top-seeded UCLA withstood a second-half charge from 12th-seeded Western Kentucky to post an 88-78 victory in the regional semifinal.

James Keefe had career highs with 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Bruins, who will play Xavier in the regional final on Saturday. UCLA (34-3) had outscored the Hilltoppers, 28-7, over the final 12 minutes of the first half to take a 41-20 lead at the break, and the Bruins still led by 18 with under 12 1/2 minutes remaining. But Western Kentucky (29-7) did not go away easily, using a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 56-47, and after eight straight points later in the half by Tyrone Brazelton, the Hilltoppers had trimmed the margin to 61-57 with 6:58 to play.

However, the Bruins hung on, later going on an 11-3 run that pushed the lead up to 74-62 with over three minutes remaining, and UCLA made 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch to keep the Hilltoppers from getting any closer than six points the rest of the way. Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Josh Shipp also scored 14 for the Bruins, who played the final 5:39 without point guard Darren Collison, who had fouled out. Collison had just four points and one assist. UCLA shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field and outrebounded Western Kentucky, 51-36, for the game.

Brazelton finished with 31 points and Courtney Lee had 18 on 7-of-29 shooting for the Hilltoppers, who were in their first regional semifinal since 1993.