COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Michigan Feels Fabulous About Final Four Again : West: Webber and Rose come alive in second half as Wolverines rally to defeat Temple, 77-72.

With his team trailing Temple at halftime Sunday, Michigan Coach Steve Fisher dropped his Mr. Rogers persona and turned on his star, power forward Chris Webber.

“He was telling me, ‘Rebound, Chris! Play like a man! Rebound, Chris! Play like a man!’ ” Webber said.

Taking the criticism to heart, the 6-foot-9, 245-pound sophomore stepped up his game in the second half and led the Wolverines past the Owls, 77-72, in the West Regional final.

The victory, before 24,196 in the Kingdome, puts Michigan in the Final Four for the second consecutive year and sets up a marquee semifinal between the Wolverines (30-4), the top-seeded team in the West, and Kentucky, No. 1 in the Southeast.

Kentucky has blown out its four NCAA tournament opponents by an average margin of 28.5 points, but the Wolverines have struggled against UCLA, George Washington and Temple. Against the Owls, the No. 7 seeded team in the West, Michigan trailed until 14:23 remained in the game and didn’t take the lead for good until there was 5:33 left.

Still, the victory seemed to lift a weight off the shoulders of Michigan’s five sophomore starters, who have had to live up to the expectations created by their run to last year’s title game. Sunday, the Fab Five had a reason to swagger again.

Asked to pick a betting line for the Michigan-Kentucky game, point guard Jalen Rose quickly responded: “Michigan by two.”

Said Webber: “If people say they’ll beat us by 25 like other teams, I want to bet my money (against it).”

For Webber, the relief was obvious.

On Saturday, he had spoken of how the joy that accompanied Michigan’s run to the Final Four in 1992 was missing this year. On Sunday, he produced 13 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots--nine points and seven rebounds coming during the Wolverines’ second-half surge--and reveled in the victory celebration. He even ran into the dressing room to get a video camera to capture the occasion.

“It’s like I’m replenished, like a Gatorade commercial,” he said. “I’m so relaxed now.”

Also instrumental in the Wolverines’ victory was Rose, who scored 17 points, didn’t commit a turnover and played outstanding defense against Temple’s Aaron McKie in the second half. McKie, the Owls’ main offensive threat, scored 13 points in the first half, but only six in the second.

Temple (20-13) took a 5-0 lead and wound up ahead at the half, 35-27. The Owls made five of 10 three-point shots--three by McKie--in the first half and used their matchup zone defense to choke off the main element of Michigan’s offense--throwing the ball inside to Webber or Juwan Howard.

The second half was a different story for Michigan.

Goaded by Fisher, Webber became a force, taking the ball to the basket or stuffing back missed shots.

“They were pounding the boards and getting second and third shots,” Temple Coach John Chaney said. “We were outmanned, out-talented and just outpowered underneath the boards. A simple, simple solution.”

William Cunningham, the Owls’ freshman center, fouled out with 9:15 remaining, and, with backup forward Jason Ivey already on the bench with four fouls, Chaney inserted 6-4 sophomore Chris Ozment into the lineup. Ozment’s previous experience in this year’s NCAA tournament: one minute. The result was a four-guard lineup that would prove vulnerable to Michigan inside.

“Eddie Jones,” Chaney said, referring to Temple’s 6-6 sophomore swing man, “is a gifted player, but he certainly can’t compete against 6-9, 500-pounders or whatever.”

A 13-4 run, capped by Rose’s steal and lob to Jimmy King for a dunk, gave Michigan an eight-point cushion with 2:40 remaining.

The Owls came back to make it a five-point game on McKie’s 18-footer with 1:51 left, still time for their three-point shooters to forge a comeback.

But then Michigan got a break. With Ray Jackson, fouled by Temple’s Rick Brunson, on his way to the foul line, referee Larry Rose called a technical foul on Chaney.

Jackson made one of his two free throws. Rose made the two he got as a result of the technical. And then the Wolverines got the ball back. Fouled by Brunson, Rose drained two more free throws, giving Michigan a 10-point lead with 1:36 left.

In a statement distributed to reporters after the game, the officiating crew attributed the technical foul to “profanity.”

Chaney claimed he had been simply telling one of his players, Derrick Battie, to watch for Michigan players pushing off under the basket.

“Anybody near my bench knows clearly I was talking to Derrick Battie,” he said. “(Michigan) likes to push, put a hand on your back and jump over you. I told Derrick very clearly to push back.”

Said Fisher: “We feel we still would have won the game (without the technical foul), but it gave us a comfort zone, because we knew we were going to get the ball back. I don’t think it was the reason we won the game, but, at the time, it was a tough call.”

A better reason why Michigan is headed for New Orleans--”still motoring along,” as Fisher put it--is Webber.

“It’s just really hit me,” he said. “We’ve had two attempts at the Final Four and made it both times. That’s an accomplishment a lot of fifth-year seniors don’t have. We played a great game and know we can play better. I can’t believe the progress we’re making.”