Bruins X Out Xavier

Charles O’Bannon scored 28 points and UCLA used a 19-2 second-half run to beat Xavier of Ohio 96-83 Saturday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

The Bruins won their 11th straight and reached the third round for the second time in three years. UCLA won the national title in 1995 and has been playing like a team ready to do it again.

UCLA, the second seed, will play sixth-seeded Iowa State next Thursday in San Antonio. The Cyclones joined the Bruins as one of the final 16 teams with a 67-66 victory over Cincinnati.

J.R. Henderson had 22 points and nine rebounds for UCLA (23-7). Darnell Williams led Xavier (23-6) with 16 points, and Torraye Braggs added 15 before fouling out with 3:25 remaining.

UCLA found itself in another close game four minutes into the second half before putting its offense into a different gear. By the time the Bruins were finished, they had a 66-47 lead over one of the better run-and-gun teams in the country.

The outburst started with Henderson’s tap-in and ended when the forward broke free for a reverse layup with 12:08 remaining. In between were an array of easy baskets and an alley-oop dunk by O’Bannon.

Xavier cut the lead to 80-69 with 4:31 remaining, but it was too late to catch UCLA.

Xavier came into the game planning to use full-court, man-to-man pressure in hopes of flustering UCLA’s guards, but the Bruins had the perfect answer. They allowed the 6-foot-9 Henderson to bring the ball up the floor against the Musketeers big men, and he easily broke the press.

UCLA had plenty of chances to pull away in the first 20 minutes, but when the Bruins appeared they would make their move, Xavier would put together a charge to stay in the game.

The Bruins connected on three 3-pointers and scored 13 straight points to take a 25-15 lead before the Musketeers came back. UCLA’s biggest lead in the first 20 minutes was 35-22 when O’Bannon hit an 18-foot jumper.

After little-used reserve Brandon Loyd hit from long range, Xavier scored eight of the next 10 points cut the deficit to 45-40 at halftime.