NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : UCLA Can’t Play in Final Four : East Regional: Bruins go cold and Duke pulls away in the closing minutes for a 90-81 victory.

As Christian Laettner of Duke drove around UCLA’s Don MacLean for an uncontested dunk with 1:55 left at the Meadowlands Thursday night, MacLean and teammate Tracy Murray stood with their heads down and their hands on their hips.

It was as if they knew their season was almost over.

A short while later, it was, as Duke played out a 90-81 victory before 19,502 in an NCAA East Regional semifinal.

“We were very good in the last four minutes,” said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose team will advance to the Final Four for the fourth time in five years if it beats Connecticut Saturday in the final.

UCLA was not good in the last four minutes, which is why the Bruins will board a plane this morning and head back to Los Angeles.

UCLA overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and twice took the lead, but down the stretch, Duke shut down the Bruins’ offense and twice exposed the Bruins’ most glaring weakness, interior defense.

A three-point shot by Gerald Madkins pulled the Bruins to within 72-71 with 5:04 left, but Duke’s 6-foot freshman point guard, Bobby Hurley, then drove through the Bruin defense to score on a layup.

As UCLA’s next four possessions resulted in a turnover, a missed three-point shot, a missed three-point shot and a missed baseline jumper, Duke took control by working its offense for a layup by 6-10 center Alaa Abdelnaby and a drive from the top of the key by the 6-11 Laettner.

Laettner’s dunk gave the Blue Devils a 78-71 lead.

Then, as UCLA continued to fire up three-point shots, Duke made 10 of 12 free throws in the last 1:40 to keep the Bruins down.

“They’re very good defensively,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said of the Blue Devils, declin-ing to question the Bruins’ lack of offensive patience. “Sometimes, your offense takes what the defense gives it. And when they gave us an open shot, certainly we wanted to take it.”

Krzyzewski called the game “a struggle for us because we played an outstanding team.”

On this night, however, Duke was better, maintaining its composure even though Laettner and Abdelnaby both picked up their fourth fouls during a single UCLA possession, Laettner with 15:04 left and Abdelnaby with 14:55 left.

Laettner only stayed out for a minute, returning to finish up a strong performance that included 24 points and 14 rebounds.

“I thought we were in a spot where we were going to lose the game,” Krzyzewski said of his unusual strategy. “They had seized the momentum and we were really in disarray.”

Laettner, he said, “showed great concentration and discipline” in not picking up a disqualifying fifth foul.

Duke (27-8) was led by guard Phil Henderson, who scored 28 points, including 16 in the second half, when he made six of nine shots, including four of five from beyond the three-point line.

Abdelnaby scored 14 points and Hurley had 12 points and nine assists.

MacLean led UCLA (22-11) with 21 points and 15 rebounds, making nine of 17 shots after making only 14 of 45 in the Bruins’ previous four games.

“MacLean had a sensational game,” Krzyzewski said.

Gerald Madkins scored 17 points and had six assists for the Bruins, making five of six shots. Trevor Wilson scored 16 points but made only five of 18 shots, and Tracy Murray had 15 points and nine rebounds.

In its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1980, UCLA was seen by most as an underdog against Duke. “A Loss is ‘Bruin’ for UCLA,” read the message taped around the head of the Blue Devils’ mascot.

UCLA didn’t see it that way.

“I see it as an even game,” Harrick had said this week.

And it was from the start as the Bruins burned the highly regarded Duke defense for layups in four of their first five possessions.

UCLA trailed 16-15 after Wilson made two free throws with 12:19 left, but with Wilson on the bench for a rest, the Blue Devils then outscored the Bruins, 5-0, getting a basket from Laettner, a free throw from Bill McCaffrey and two free throws from Hurley.

Then, after Wilson returned and committed a loose-ball foul, Henderson made a three-point shot to give Duke a 24-15 lead.

Duke stretched its lead to 39-28 on a pair of free throws by Laettner with 4:13, but UCLA then made a move with Hurley on the bench.

A 9-2 run, including a three-point shot by Madkins, a short jumper by Murray and layups by MacLean and Martin, pulled the Bruins to within 41-37, but with Hurley back in the game, Duke closed out the half with a 6-1 run to take a 47-38 edge.

Laettner, who made only one of 11 shots last weekend in Duke victories over Richmond and St. John’s, made six of nine in the first 20 minutes against the Bruins, ending the half with 16 points and nine rebounds.

MacLean also played a strong half, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds and making five of nine shots.