Team Could Look Peppy

Leading up to Saturday’s victory by Louisiana State over Texas in the NCAA tournament’s Atlanta Regional final, Louisiana State Coach John Brady told his players they were underdogs like Buster Douglas and Texas was the overwhelming favorite like Mike Tyson, according to Tiger freshman forward Tyrus Thomas.

Brady then pointed out that Douglas knocked out Tyson in 1990 in one of the great upsets in boxing history.

If Brady stays with a boxing analogy for Saturday’s game against UCLA in the national semifinals, whom will he compare the Bruins to?

Considering UCLA has arguably the best defensive team in the country and clinched a Final Four berth Saturday by beating Memphis despite making only four baskets in the second half, Willie Pep might be a good choice.

The featherweight from half a century ago was such a great defensive fighter that he was said to have won a round without throwing a punch.

Even UCLA couldn’t win a game without scoring a basket in a half, could it?

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In an era when offense is applauded nightly on SportsCenter, it may have taken some of the Bruins awhile to buy into Coach Ben Howland’s defense-first-and-foremost philosophy, but they are as ferocious in defending their style now as they are in playing it.

“If we won 2-0 or 111-109, a win is a win,” said senior center Ryan Hollins of Saturday’s 50-45 victory over Memphis. “It doesn’t matter. That’s what is going down in history.”

That it is. The game was the lowest-scoring regional final since the shot clock was instituted in 1986.

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In winning 11 in a row, UCLA has held 10 of those teams to 60 points or fewer. Bruin point guard Jordan Farmar says he’s not surprised.

“You should watch our practices,” he said. “We can’t score against each other.”

Farmar also insists he’s not surprised his team is going to the Final Four for the first time in 11 years.

“I’m a winner,” Farmar said. “From day one, I expect to win every game. So therefore, I expect to be here.”

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The Tigers had Sunday off and many players spent the afternoon at a crawfish broil at the home of assistant coach Butch Pierre.

The players know that, once they get to Indianapolis, they will be subjected to the national media fishing for telling quotes about facing a team attempting to win a record 12th national title.

But if forward Glen Davis is an example, the LSU players won’t bite, supplying nothing likely to make its way to a locker room bulletin board.

“We have a lot of respect for UCLA and their tradition and what they did to get to the Final Four,” Davis said. “But we don’t worry that much about what it says on the front of another team’s uniform. We’re just going to go out and keep playing the kind of basketball we have been playing.”

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A shot at history: In boosting their record to 31-6 Saturday, Howland’s Bruins have surpassed the best teams of John Wooden in terms of victories in a season and could set a new mark with two more wins.

The 1994-95 Bruins, under Jim Harrick, went 32-1 in winning an NCAA title. One of the victories was by forfeit.

But it’s not a fair comparison because UCLA plays more games than it did in the Wooden era. This year’s team has already set a school record for games played. Four Wooden teams finished with 30-0 records.