First Look

FIRST LOOK

UCLA (21-11) vs. Missouri (23-11)

West Regional semifinals at San Jose, Thursday, 7:15 p.m.

STORY LINE

Both started the season with high expectations--UCLA with a No. 5 ranking, Missouri at No. 8 in the first Associated Press Top 25 poll--but struggled in conference play (both finished sixth) and finished unranked with the same number of losses (11). This will be the first game between the schools since the 1995 NCAA tournament, when Tyus Edney drove the length of the court in 4.8 seconds and scored over two Missouri defenders at the buzzer to give UCLA a 75-74 victory. The Bruins went on to win their 11th national championship.

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HOW THEY GOT HERE

UCLA, the West’s eighth-seeded team, had a first-round laugher, 80-58 over Mississippi, then showed what all the preseason hype was about in rallying from an 11-point deficit in the second half and defeating top-seeded Cincinnati, 105-101, in double overtime. Missouri, a No. 12-seeded team, jumped out to big early leads and dominated No. 5 Miami, 93-80, and No. 4 Ohio State, 83-67.

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COMMON OPPONENTS

Alabama and Kansas. UCLA was at its best against these nonconference opponents. The Bruins, accused before the Dec. 8 game at Alabama of being soft on defense, buckled down and held the Crimson Tide to 29.7% shooting and forced 17 turnovers in a 79-57 victory at the Arrowhead Pond. A month later at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA beat Kansas at its own game--piling up points in transition and outshooting the Jayhawks (52.6% to 41%) in an 87-77 victory. Missouri defeated Alabama, 75-68, in Columbia, Mo., on Nov. 20, with neither team playing particularly well (both shot 41%). The Tigers were no match for Kansas in the first of two Big 12 meetings, losing, 105-73, as the Jayhawks shot 61.9%. In the rematch at Columbia, Missouri made 10 of 24 three-point shots but still had trouble with Kansas in transition and lost, 95-92.

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STYLE OF PLAY

UCLA and Missouri are a virtual mirror image--deep and athletic teams that like to play it fast and loose. Both have much-maligned young coaches (Steve Lavin and Quin Snyder) still learning their trade, perimeter shooters with sweet strokes (forwards Jason Kapono and Kareem Rush), streaky long-range shooters (guards Clarence Gilbert and Billy Knight), big men who disappeared in stretches of the regular season but have come on strong in the tournament (6-9, 275-pound Arthur Johnson and 6-11, 240-pound Dan Gadzuric) and erratic young point guards (Cedric Bozeman and Wesley Stokes).

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X FACTORS

For UCLA, it’s Matt Barnes. The senior power forward has an inside-outside game that could give the Tigers fits. For Missouri, it’s Rush. He was expected to join bother JaRon at UCLA in 1999 but myriad problems kept that from happening. How will this--and the 21 stitches he took in his lip after getting hit by a stray elbow in the first round--affect his play?

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An entertaining, fast-paced game that could perhaps come down to a late coast-to-coast dash to the winning basket by Stokes--like Edney, a product of Long Beach Poly High.