The Bruins appeared in trouble when point guard Darren Collison fouled out for the first time this year, with 5:39 to play. Collison had only four points and four turnovers. UCLA led 41-20 at halftime, but Western Kentucky wouldn’t go away. The Hilltoppers began pressing, and the Bruins started to fall apart. They had 12 turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the second half and finished with 19, a season high. Kevin Love scored a career-high 29 points, had 14 rebounds and hit 10-of-14 shots from the floor. Without Love, the Bruins would be done.
Love had help from James Keefe, who scored 18 points and pulled 12 rebounds, both career highs. Russell Westbrook added 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead and hung on to defeat Western Kentucky 88-78. UCLA will play No. 3 seed Xavier on Saturday at 3:30 for a trip to its third consecutive Final Four. Louisville and North Carolina will also play for a spot in the Final Four on Saturday at 6. Tonight is Stanford versus Texas, and Michigan State versus Memphis.
In the NBA, the Lakers, Hornets, and Spurs will all play tonight in search of their 50th win, making the race in the west one of the most competitive in years. The Hornets have the tallest hurdle to climb, having to play the Celtics in Boston, but they won in their first meeting and hope to sweep them this season. David West scored 37 points in that victory and hopes to help MVP candidate Chris Paul to maintain the top seed in the Western Conference. West is averaging 28.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last four games.
The Spurs will play the Timberwolves and the Lakers will play the Grizzlies. Both teams are among the worst in the league, neither with 20 wins. But the Lakers fell earlier this week to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats. Jason Richardson scored 34 points and Kobe Bryant was thrown out of the game. He finished with 27, but did not shoot very well and became too frustrated to continue.
The Lakers have not been as consistent with the absence of Pau Gasol, but they have still managed to stay at the top of the pack in the west. Gasol is due back in a game or two. Andrew Bynun is expected back in the middle of April. And though they are a little banged up, their schedule favors them for the rest of the season. The Lakers play seven of their last ten games at Staples Center, and only three against playoff bound teams.
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