The Californians are still Indiana dreaming.
UCLA eclipsed Louisiana State 59-45 Saturday night to move into the NCAA tournament final for the first time since 1995, when the school won the last of its record 11 championships.
The Bruins (32-6) handily topped the Tigers (27-9) to advance to Monday night’s championship game against Florida. The Gators ended the improbable hopes of George Mason 73-58 earlier before 43,822 fans at the RCA Dome.
The Bruins immediately drained the suspense out of a game many believed they wouldn’t win because of LSU’s allegedly superior athleticism. Instead UCLA dominated, building a 39-24 halftime lead and a 24-point second-half margin.
“I thought the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game UCLA was able to get us back on our heels, and we weren’t able to recover from that,” LSU coach John Brady said.
In a tournament notable for incredible finishes, with overtimes and last-second winning shots common, the semifinals proved anticlimactic.
UCLA guards controlled the ball and UCLA forwards controlled the paint from the opening tip. The Bruins’ defense squeezed LSU’s big men down low while the Tigers’ backcourt seemed lucky to hit the rim on its outside shots. LSU made just 16 of 50 shots and the Tigers were 0-for-6 on three-pointers. “They were looking at each other,” Bruins guard Jordan Farmer said of the defense’s effect on LSU. “They point fingers. Their eyes get real big like deer in headlights.”
UCLA freshman forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of Cameroon scored a game-high 17 points with nine rebounds. He had a perfect first half, going 3-for-3 on field goals and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. He also contained LSU star center Glen “Big Baby” Davis (14 points on 5 of 17 shooting).
“My back hurts right now,” said Mbah a Moute, who stands 6 feet 7 inches to Davis’ 6-9 and weighs 224 pounds to Davis’ 310. “He’s big. It takes effort and toughness.”
Davis said UCLA’s pressure was outstanding.
“UCLA did a great job defending. What can I say?” he said. “Tonight was their night. We were kind of shocked.”
The Bruins surprisingly outrebounded (42-33), outran and outshot the Tigers. UCLA hit 58.3 percent from the floor in the first half, only 25.9 in the second.
LSU forward Tyrus Thomas had feasted on unsuspecting foes with his shot-blocking prowess earlier in the tournament and Bruins coach Ben Howland had called Thomas “a shot-blocking, fly-swatting machine.”
Yet Thomas had just one block at halftime and because of foul trouble played only four minutes in the second half.
Even worse for the Tigers, UCLA outshot them from the free-throw line. Shaquille O’Neal is a former LSU star, but the one part of his game the current players don’t wish to emulate is foul shooting. While the Bruins hit a Reggie Miller-like 8 of 10 in the first half, LSU was an ugly 13 of 28.
UCLA got key minutes and contributions from backups in the first half when four regulars accumulated two fouls each. “Our bench was incredible,” Howland said. “I have confidence in our guys, 1 through 10.”
The only other LSU double-figure scorer was guard Darrel Mitchell (12 points), the team’s only senior.
The day before the game, LSU players had reflected on UCLA’s heritage.
“I respect their tradition,” Davis said. “UCLA is just a couple of letters on the front of the jersey to me.”
At the end of the game those letters spelled L-O-S-S.
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lfreedman@tribune.com
