COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Indiana Victory Is the Pits for UCLA : West Regional: The Hoosiers roll into the Final Four, 106-79. It is the Bruins’ worst postseason loss ever.

Toward the end of UCLA’s 15-point victory over Indiana on Nov. 15 in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic at Springfield, Mass., Bruin guard Darrick Martin lifted four fingers into the air.

“We’re going to the (Final) Four,” he shouted.

On Saturday, the Bruins were stopped 28 points short.

In a stunning reversal of what transpired on that November night, Indiana beat the Bruins, 106-79, before 16,160 at the Pit in the final game of the West Regional.

“They beat us in every way, shape and form,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said of the Hoosiers, who advanced to Final Four for the fifth time in 21 seasons under Coach Bob Knight. “They played a great game.

“Your worst fear in coaching and playing is that some nights you come out and you don’t have any legs, you don’t have any zip or energy or enthusiasm or aggressiveness. We just didn’t have anything today and they were just terrific. They played a fantastic game.”

It was the worst postseason loss in UCLA history, eclipsing a 23-point second-round defeat against Brigham Young in 1981.

It was the worst loss overall for the Bruins since Feb. 18, 1989, when they suffered the worst defeat in their history, 102-64, at Arizona.

Only twice has UCLA given up more points in regulation.

Indiana made 57.6% of its shots, 69.8% during the last 33 minutes, limited UCLA to 38.9% shooting and outrebounded the Bruins, 42-33.

“Give them credit,” UCLA captain Gerald Madkins said. “They kicked our butt in every aspect of the game.

“They cut us apart, carved us up.”

Indiana (27-6) will play Duke (32-2) Saturday at Minneapolis.

UCLA (28-5) will watch on television.

As it had in Springfield, where it wound up losing to the Bruins, 87-72, Indiana opened an early lead, overcoming cold shooting--the Hoosiers missed 12 of their first 16 shots--by beating UCLA to almost every rebound.

In the Tip-Off Classic, the Hoosiers took a 25-14 lead.

This time, it was 27-13.

But this time, they were relentless.

“We wanted to come out and prove that we’re a better team than we were at the beginning of the year,” said Hoosier sixth man Eric Anderson, who scored 17 points and was voted most outstanding player in the regional. “We didn’t play like we were capable in the earlier meeting. We wanted to come out and do better than we did the first time around.”

Mission accomplished.

“I talked (Friday) about the gap (between the teams),” Knight said. “We closed the gap a little bit.”

UCLA seemed flustered at the start and never recovered.

“Our defense is what really got us going,” Anderson said. “We were taking away their outside shots. We were switching off on (Don) MacLean and (Tracy) Murray. As early as the first half, when they realized they weren’t getting open shots, it frustrated them and we got the edge.”

It was all but over by halftime, with the Hoosiers leading, 44-29, and riding a wave of emotion after thoroughly outplaying the Bruins.

“At the half, our kids ran up the ramp (leading to the locker rooms) and UCLA walked up,” Knight said. “That was a big difference. I (believed) that where we were at the half, the only way that we could get hurt is if they got off to a six- or seven-point start. Our not permitting that to happen might have been the biggest point in the game.”

Indiana forward Alan Henderson, who scored 10 points and took 12 rebounds, scored on a layup to start the second half.

UCLA missed its first two shots of the half and also its first free throw, an attempt by Murray that barely reached the rim.

At the other end, sophomore guard Damon Bailey made a three-point shot from the top of the key and Indiana’s lead was 49-30.

UCLA never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.

“That was not the (UCLA) team that had played in the tournament,” Madkins said. “We were forcing things, not looking for one another. We reverted back to some habits that I thought we had gotten rid of.”

The Bruins shot worse only one other time this season.

MacLean, in his final game at UCLA, missed nine of 13 shots and scored only 12 points. He scored fewer only three times during his last two seasons.

Murray missed 10 of 16 shots and scored only 15 points.

Tyus Edney missed 10 of 15 shots.

Said Harrick: “We were spent.”

Bruin Notes

UCLA shot worse only against Duke, making 34.8% of its shots against the top-ranked Blue Devils during a 75-65 loss March 1 at Pauley Pavilion. . . . Indiana’s 57.6% shooting was the best by a Bruin opponent this season. . . . UCLA had lost only once, to DePaul in 1979, in 15 previous regional final appearances. . . . Indiana advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1987, when it won the last of its five national championships.

Tracy Murray had scored at least 20 points in UCLA’s previous 11 games. . . . Calbert Cheaney, limited to eight points during an 87-72 loss to UCLA in the season opener, led Indiana with 23 points, making nine of 15 shots. He made two of nine against the Bruins during the first meeting. . . . Gerald Madkins, who led UCLA with 18 points, averaged 16.3 points during the NCAA tournament after averaging 6.8 during the regular season. Indiana Coach Bob Knight greeted him as he walked off the court. “He just told me that he wished he had a player like me, that I work my guts out and that he appreciates seeing that,” Madkins said.