2008 ncca tournament bracket
2008 ncca tournament schedule
NCAA tournament bracket
Is this the year all the No. 1s make it to the Final Four for the first time? All four remain alive with the Elite Eight tipping off Saturday night, and the West's top-seeded UCLA Bruins (34-3) are the first to take the court, facing No. 3 Xavier (30-6) in Phoenix.
The Bruins are 6-point betting favorites (over/under: 130) on WagerWeb.com.
UCLA has been arguably the least impressive No. 1 seed lately, barely escaping Texas A&M and then seeing Western Kentucky make a huge comeback in the Sweet 16. Still, the Bruins are one game from their third consecutive Final Four.
Junior swingman Josh Shipp says, "I don't know what to tell you. This is definitely not the way we want to be playing these games. But we're surviving, so we're happy."
Xavier undoubtedly will try to slow things down on Saturday. The Musketeers know the Bruins feast on turnovers, have superior athletes and finish better in the open court.
But will the Musketeers have an answer for Bruins super freshman Kevin Love? He has been tremendous lately -- 29 points and 14 rebounds against Western Kentucky -- but what Xavier did against another super freshman power forward, KSU's Michael Beasley earlier this year, ought to give the Bruins pause as they prepare for tonight's West Regional final. Xavier held Beasley to five points -- 21 below Beasley's average -- and it was the only time he failed to reach double figures all season.
The Musketeers play almost exclusively man-to-man defense, but they don't have to try to defend the 6-10, 271-pound Love with only one player. They have 6-foot-9, 238-pound Josh Duncan, 6-foot-8, 225-pound Derrick Brown and 6-9, 255-pound Jason Love (no relation).
"He is a great player," Duncan said of Kevin Love. "(He's a) very big guy, (and) physical down low. (I've) just got to get ready to accept the challenge and just know I have to bring my 'A' game on defense.
"You have to be aggressive. Obviously, he is a real big guy, like I said, physical down low. I just have to be aggressive ... and depend on my teammates to help me when I need help."
Meanwhile, 5-foot-7 Drew Lavender has been Xavier's most important player during the tournament.
In Xavier's first three tourney games, Lavender has averaged 13.3 points and six assists per game. Lavender went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute of an 85-78 victory over Purdue in the second round, finishing with 18 points and nine assists.
Lavender has a total of six turnovers in 106 high-pressure minutes. That might be the most important statistic on a team that depends on ball movement to spread the scoring load.
"I don't think he turns the ball over a lot," UCLA point guard Darren Collison said. "Any time you have good point guard play, you go far in the tournament. Obviously, he led his team to the Elite Eight for a reason."
Coming into the game, five Xavier players are averaging 10 or more points, with Duncan the leader at just 12.7. But UCLA has limited 20 teams to 60 or fewer points this season and is undefeated when doing so.
Betting trends: Over is 7-1 in Xavier's last 8 non-conference games. Over is 8-2 in Xavier's last 10 neutral site games. Xavier is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 Saturday games. Over is 6-2 in UCLA's last 8 Saturday games. Xavier is 16-16 ATS overall, UCLA is 20-14-2. Xavier is 16-16 vs. over/under, UCLA is 18-18.
Prediction: The Musketeers, including in NCAA play, have faced 11 teams that made the field and their record is 9-4, so this wouldn't be that much of an upset if they won tonight. But the Bruins have too much experience on this stage to lose - they won't, but they also won't cover the number.
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