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The Associated Press

PHOENIX—Two players can’t win an NCAA title by themselves, even if they’re Darren Collison and Kevin Love.

The slick junior point guard and gifted freshman center accounted for 40 of UCLA’s 51 points in the Bruins’ 51-49 second-round squeaker over Texas A&M.

But it was an aberration, the two players say, and the wealth will be shared against Western Kentucky in the West region semifinals today.

“We can spread it around,” Love said. “Josh (Shipp) will start knocking down shots. He has been shooting the ball all week. Luc’s ankle is back to 100 percent. And Russell (Westbrook) has been shooting the ball well in practice.”

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is especially important to the Bruins, coach Ben Howland said at Wednesday’s news conference. The big forward missed two games with a sprained left ankle before returning against Texas A&M.

“We know at this point, without Luc playing major minutes, it is going to be very rough for us to advance,” Howland said. “He has been a three-year starter. He is an integral part of what we do at both ends of the floor. I expect him to play, hoping that he doesn’t get in any kind of foul trouble, at least 30 minutes tomorrow.”

Mbah a Moute had two points, eight rebounds, and six turnovers in what he acknowledged was a rusty 32 minutes against the Aggies. He underwent an MRI as a precaution on Monday but said he was ready to go against the Hilltoppers.

The Bruins have won 12 in a row, even though five of their last eight have been by three points or less and another was in overtime.

The Hilltoppers, winners of eight in a row, advanced to Phoenix with a 101-99 overtime upset of Drake, followed by a 72-63 win against a San Diego team that had knocked off No. 4 seed Connecticut.

While the elite programs, such as UCLA, often lose top players to the NBA after one or two seasons, Western Kentucky starts three senior guards—Courtney Lee, Tyrone Brazelton and Ty Rogers.

Howland said he was impressed with Western Kentucky when he studied film Tuesday night of the Hilltoppers’ 88-82 loss to Tennessee in December.

“I mean, Tennessee is a team that obviously has been there all year, and has been ranked No. 1,” Howland said. “They (the Hilltoppers) are right there. It is a one point game with two minutes to go. That game could have gone either way. ... So they’re a team, as is any team that’s left in the tournament right now, that can beat anybody.”



Xavier, West Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers are far different than most of Bob Huggins’ teams, except in one way.

They win.

Huggins inherited a team of sharpshooters recruited by John Beilein, who stressed an intricate offense, and transformed it into a squad that plays man-to-man defense and scraps for rebounds.

No one will confuse these Mountaineers with Huggins’ big, bad Cincinnati Bearcats. But West Virginia (26-10) has reached the NCAA tournament’s round of 16, where the seventh-seeded Mountaineers will face third-seeded Xavier (29-6) in the West Region tonight.

“He’s completely flipped everything around, with rebounding, defense, intensity and goal-wise,” forward Joe Alexander said after the Mountaineers practiced at U.S. Airways Center on Wednesday. “The goals changed when he came, from day one. They went from making the NCAA tournament to winning the NCAA tournament.”

From the start, Huggins and his staff pushed the players into the weight room. He also brought a treadmill to practice, and players who mess up are asked to go for a spin.

“When I first heard that he was going to get one in the gym, I was like, ’Man, that’s not going to happen,”’ backup forward Wellington Smith said. “When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to be on there a lot.’ I’ve been on there a lot.”

Xavier coach Sean Miller, who has known Huggins for most of his life, said he’s not surprised that Huggins has returned with a passion.

“He is such a survivor,” Miller said. “He is so strong-willed. I don’t know if it surprised anybody that not only is he back as a coach, but better than ever.”

Arizona coach Kevin O’Neill, a longtime friend, called Huggins “probably the most underrated coach in the whole game. He’s going to be in the Hall of Fame.”

Huggins’ blunt style makes for good copy but isn’t always endearing. He still bristles over the perception—some of it fueled by the media, he believes—that his Bearcats were a lawless bunch.

“I understand to make a good story, there’s got to be white hats and black hats, otherwise we never would have had a cowboy movie,” Huggins said. “That’s the way it is.”

To stress his point, Huggins recalled the 1992 Final Four.

“The reality is in 1992 we go to the Final Four with three bluebloods—it is Indiana, Duke and Michigan,” Huggins said. “And then here we come in with 10 transfers.