Xavier is busy readying its defense

PHOENIX -- UCLA likes to play defense.

So does Xavier, the last team between the Bruins and their third consecutive Final Four.

Stanley Burrell is the lockdown defender for Xavier. A 6-foot-3 senior guard, he held Indiana’s Eric Gordon to four-for-12 shooting in November, though Gordon got to the line enough to finish with 20 points.

In December, Burrell held Tennessee’s Chris Lofton to a mere nine points on three-for-12 shooting.

In the locker room after Xavier’s overtime victory over West Virginia on Thursday, Burrell sat watching the TV that showed UCLA playing Western Kentucky and tried to guess his assignment.

“Probably Collison,” he said, nodding toward UCLA point guard Darren Collison. “Or Shipp or Westbrook.

“Probably their main threat, the coaches will put me on.”

Burrell’s role has changed over his career -- this season, the 1,600-point scorer is averaging only about 10 points as a senior, the lowest output of his career.

“Whatever it takes for my team to win,” Burrell said. “I’ve been the guy that scored a lot of points. . . . It never really mattered to me. It’s more like, what can I do to help us win?”

There’s a lot more to handling UCLA than handling the guards, of course. There’s Kevin Love. He presents problems.

“A lot of problems,” Xavier Coach Sean Miller said. “I would think he would give every team problems. He’s the Pac-10 player of the year. He’s got a big body, and he’s so smart.”

Burrell has taken note.

“Aw, man, he’s an unbelievable player. He’s so poised as a freshman. We’ve got to be at our best,” he said.

Still, Xavier has done pretty well defending some inside players, too, holding Kansas State’s Michael Beasley to a season-low five points.

“We caught him on the right night,” Miller said with a little smile.

That defensive effort was a tag team of Derrick Brown, a 6-8, 225-pound sophomore, and Jason Love, a 6-9, 255-pound sophomore who is no relation to the UCLA player.

One Xavier result UCLA fans probably will take note of is Xavier’s 77-55 loss to Arizona State in December. The key statistics in that one: Xavier shot only 30.9% in that game. Arizona State shot 59.5% and made 10 of 19 three-pointers.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland hasn’t looked at Xavier much yet, but he knows Miller, a former point guard at Pittsburgh, where Howland coached before moving to UCLA.

“They’ve very, very sound. They play great man-to-man defense,” Howland said. “We’ve got our hands full.”

Xavier’s Burrell felt the same way.

“They’re an unbelievable team. An unbelievable program,” he said. “Not just this year. Year in and year out. . . .

“I know they want to get to the Final Four, but we want to get there too.”

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com