West Region Follows the Script...Sort Of

Thursday night at the West Regionals in the US Airways Center saw the two favorites build huge, seemingly insurmountable leads, only to watch as the underdogs made valiant comebacks to make things interesting. Top seed UCLA and number three Xavier both survived, but not before they were forced to undergo some stressful moments. The Musketeers were forced to go to overtime, using a barrage of clutch perimeter shots to escape a feisty West Virginia team that was oh so close to another impressive Elite Eight finish as a seven in the West. The Bruins won much more comfortably, but also blew a larger lead in letting the Cinderella Hilltoppers work their way back into it.

Xavier could do no wrong in building a 28-10 lead early on, but West Virginia overcame its slow start to produce some wonderful drama for the second round in a row. Slowly but surely the Mountaineers came back – just like against Duke – and they snatched the lead with a little over nine minutes to go. The final 14 minutes would be a gut check with both teams sending knock out blows to the other. Back and forth they went, and after building their largest lead of six in overtime, Xavier came up with a brilliant display of outside shooting to escape with the victory. Josh Duncan played the game of his life in leading the Musketeers to victory after two starters fouled out, leading the way with a career-high 26 points in the 79-75 overtime victory. But it was B.J. Duncan’s two 3-pointers in the final two minutes that allowed Xavier to go from a two point deficit to a four point lead and snatch the win in the final moments. For West Virginia, it was a bitter end to a captivating comeback that looked certain to end with a victory.

The Bruins had similar trouble in holding a 21-point lead. UCLA had been searching for some help, with Kevin Love and Darren Collison being forced to do everything. In their battle with Western Kentucky last night, it was James Keefe who came from the far side of the bench to put up 18 and 12 to help substantiate UCLA’s bid advantage inside. Combined with Love’s 29 and 14 performance, Western Kentucky just had no answer for the Bruins duo inside. The Hilltoppers were outrebounded by 16 and shot 34% from the field, but still managed to trim the Bruins impossible lead down to four. Western Kentucky’s Tyrone Brazelton got hot from the outside, and with a little help from their full court press, the Hilltoppers really made things interesting for Ben Howland’s team. For the second straight game, UCLA had to overcome considerable adversity, with Collison struggling and ultimately fouling out with only four points. But, the Bruins got enough offense to carry them through to a regional final for the third straight year.

Both teams have been far from perfect in advancing this far, but have done what they’ve needed to do to advance this far. Xavier’s Duncan has the ability to expose Love inside with his solid perimeter game. He’s also much quicker than the Pac-10 Player of the Year, and with his confidence riding high from his career night against the Mountaineers, he has an opportunity to shock some people in this Tournament. Throughout the games, UCLA has managed to establish a stronghold inside, but Duncan is capable of disrupting that. If he’s successful, you gotta like Xavier’s guards against the Bruins set.

Frustrating Love in the paint has been a near impossible task for anyone this year. The Lopez twins were flawless in it in the team’s final meeting, but the Bruins eventually prevailed when they got their big man going. Beating UCLA will require Xavier’s defense to be on point for the entire 40 minutes, something that few teams have been able to do to UCLA at all over the last three years. The Bruins must continue to get the scoring help they saw in the Sweet 16 because Love, a freshman, isn’t capable of shouldering the load throughout an entire Tournament. Against Texas A&M it was definitely a combo effort with Collison, but more production must come from Josh Shipp and Russell Westbrook, who’s looked out of control during this Tournament.

The West has seen its share of surprises along the way, but it has ended with its top teams facing each other (sorry, Duke) for a shot at the Final Four.