ELITE 8
UCLA 76, Xavier 57: The Bruins are back in the Final Four and they got there with a dominating performance against the Musketeers. Kevin Love led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but he had plenty of help as UCLA earned a spot in college basketball's showcase for the third straight year.

SWEET 16
UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78: The Bruins surged to a 21-point halftime lead, then had to hold off a furious rally by the Hilltoppers. Kevin Love scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for UCLA, while James Keefe set career highs with 18 points and 12 boards.

SECOND ROUND
UCLA 51, Texas A&M 49: These Bruins keep finding more drama and ways to win in the closing seconds. Darren Collison scored the go-ahead basket on a one-handed layin with 9 1/2 seconds remaining, Josh Shipp contested Donald Sloan's final drive and top-seeded UCLA held on to beat the Aggies.
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FIRST ROUND
UCLA 70, Mississippi Valley State 29: Getting the ball stuck behind the backboard merely delayed the inevitable for Mississippi Valley State. Freshman Kevin Love scored 20 points and dislodged the trapped ball as top-seeded UCLA cruised past the overmatched Delta Devils.
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How they got in: Pac-10 champion

Basically: After losing to the national champion Florida in each of the last two tournaments, with two Final Four appearances and a trip to the 2006 national title game, the Bruins have come back even better with star freshman Kevin Love living up to his advanced billing. Battle-tested with tight March wins at Arizona and against Cal cementing the regular-season Pac-10 championship, the Bruins are ready for yet another deep run. This is the most deadly of tournament teams with NBA-level athleticism and a defense-first mentality. It's a simple formula: Play great defense, convert in the transition, repeat.

Strengths: Rebounding. It's a Ben Howland-coached team, so it's terrific on the boards, ranking second in the nation in rebounding margin. The Bruins don't have quite the killer defense of past years when it comes to pressuring the perimeter and blocking shots, allowing opponents to hit around 42 percent of their attempts, but there aren't many points to be had. Most importantly, it's one-and-done off the boards, and there's always a big free-throw advantage, ranking third in the nation in fouls committed while hitting 74 percent on the line.

Weaknesses: Three-point shooting. The Bruin offense is about getting it inside to Love and/or getting the guards to the basket. There's no consistent outside scoring to speak of for this team. UCLA doesn't take the 3, and it doesn't hit the 3. That's not to say there isn't the potential for three point shooting, Darren Collison certainly has the range and ability; the Bruins are simply an attacking offensive team.

Players you should care about: Love is an athletic NBA power forward spending the year as a college center. Great on the boards and with a decent passing touch, he can do a little of everything. He's not the only future big leaguer as Collison will likely be off next year after giving it some though after last season. While he's always going to be slight, checking in at around 6-0 and 165 pounds, he's tough as nails and gets his share of rebounds. While his assists have gone tone, he's been a big more of a scorer. If you have a few spare moments, check out some video online of Russell Westbrook. The 6-foot-3 guard is a good all-around player and the team's top passer, but he's known mostly for being among college basketball's most explosive dunkers.

Best wins: at Stanford 76-67; Stanford 67-64 (Pac 10 Championship).

Worst losses: USC 72-63; at Washington 71-61.