NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Bruins Hope Aggies Repeat Helper Role : Matchup: UCLA beat New Mexico State on its way to winning titles in 1968, ’69 and ’70.

UCLA’s game against New Mexico State Thursday night at Albuquerque, N.M., in the semifinals of the West Regional won’t be the first meeting between the teams in the NCAA tournament.

New Mexico State lost to UCLA as the Bruins, in the midst of their dynasty, rolled to NCAA championships Nos. 4, 5 and 6.

“Each time we played them, we had a lot of respect for them, but as each game progressed, we were comfortable,” former UCLA Coach John Wooden said. “I felt that we were going to be all right.

“They had a fine team, but we just had a better team. They couldn’t beat us. We would have had to beat ourselves.”

The New Mexico State coach then was Lou Henson, who has since moved on to Illinois.

“Back then, nobody was beating UCLA,” Henson said. “You just couldn’t do it.

“We had a real good ballclub. Had it not been for UCLA, we would have had a shot at the Final Four (three years in a row). We could play with anybody else, but nobody could play with UCLA.”

In those days, Henson said, most coaches who faced the Bruins tried the same strategy.

“You prayed a lot,” he said.

Henson’s prayers for an Aggie upset went unheeded three times:

--In 1968, in the semifinals of the West Regional at the Pit in Albuquerque, site of this week’s game, UCLA led by only two points with 6:50 to play, but pulled away and won, 57-48, before 15,345.

The Bruins didn’t take control until Sam Lacey, New Mexico State’s 6-foot-9 center, and Richard Collins, a 6-6 Aggie forward, fouled out within a minute of one another with 5 1/2 minutes to play.

UCLA made only 40.4% of its shots, but the Aggies made only 32.8%. And, after making 75.6% of their free throws until that day, the Aggies made only 11 of 25 against the Bruins.

“We got good shots, but they just weren’t falling in,” Wooden said afterward. “From the first half on, though, I never at any time thought we were going to lose.”

UCLA’s junior center, Lew Alcindor, scored 28 points, making nine of 13 shots, and took 23 rebounds, an arena record that has since been equaled by two others, but has never been broken.

“For the most part, I didn’t think Lew had a good game,” Wooden said. “But it was good enough.”

--In 1969, in the semifinals of the West Regional at Pauley Pavilion, New Mexico State was defeated by UCLA, 53-38, before 12,817.

Less than a week after USC had used a stall to beat the Bruins, 46-44, ending UCLA’s 51-game home winning streak, Henson tried the same tactic.

“We played as slowly as we could,” said Henson, whose team again shot poorly against the Bruins, making only 31.3% of its shots. “That’s the only way to beat them. And I’m not sure you can beat them that way.

“They’re a tremendous ballclub. They have great rebounding, tremendous outside shooting and they play good defense.”

Alcindor led the Bruins with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Lacey had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Aggies, but made only five of 16 shots. Aggie guard Jimmy Collins, who averaged more than 20 points per game, was held to 11. He made only four of 17 shots.

--In 1970, New Mexico State went to the Midwest Regional, so the Aggies didn’t have to play UCLA until they reached the Final Four at College Park, Md.

“Because Lew had graduated, we thought we had a pretty good shot at them,” Henson said.

But the Bruins made 55.6% of their shots, New Mexico State, despite 28 points from Jimmy Collins on 13-of-23 shooting, made only 38.8%, and UCLA romped in the semifinals before 14,380 at Cole Fieldhouse, 93-77.

At the time, Henson called that edition of the Bruins, which featured Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe, “as good, if not better, than the others we’ve played.”

Guard John Vallely led the Bruins with 23 points. Wicks scored 22 points, made 10 of 12 shots and took 16 rebounds. Rowe had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Guard Henry Bibby added 19 points and center Steve Patterson had 12 as the starters scored all but two of the Bruins’ points.

“That was a better team than most people realized,” Wooden said. “And they had more to prove within themselves--that they could do it without Alcindor.”