NCAA East and West Regional semifinal caps

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Match-up capsules for Thursday's NCAA Sweet 16 East and West regional semifinals in Charlotte and Phoenix. All times Eastern. Seeds are indicated and statistics include all games.EAST REGIONAL:No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA (34-2) vs. No. 4 WASHINGTON STATE (26-8), 7:27 p.m., CBS.COACHES: Roy Williams (140-32 in fifth year at North Carolina) and Tony Bennett (52-16 in second year at Wash. State).HOW THEY GOT HERE: North Carolina beat No. 16 Mount St. Mary's, 113-74, in the first round and No. 9 Arkansas, 108-77, in the second round. Washington State beat No. 13 Winthrop, 71-40, in the first round and No. 5 Notre Dame, 61-41, in the second round.SERIES HISTORY: First meeting.STATS THAT MATTER: Averaging 110.5 points per game in two NCAA wins, Tar Heels are second in nation in scoring (89.9 points per game). Having given up an average of 40.5 points in two NCAA wins, Cougars are second in nation in scoring defense (56.1 ppg).NORTH CAROLINA STARTERS: F Tyler Hansbrough (22.8 ppg, 10.2 rpg), G Wayne Ellington (16.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 42.1 pct. on 3-pointers), G Ty Lawson (12.9 ppg, 5.3 apg), F Deon Thompson (8.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg), G-F Marcus Ginyard (7.4 ppg, 2.1 apg).WASHINGTON STATE STARTERS: G Derrick Low (14.1 ppg, 39.1 pct. on 3-pointers), G Kyle Weaver (12.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.3 apg), G Taylor Rochestie (10.7 ppg, 4.8 apg), C Aron Baynes (10.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg), F Robbie Cowgill (7.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg).OUTLOOK: Talk about David vs. Goliath. Making first trip ever to Sweet 16, Cougars are 0-25 lifetime vs. top-ranked teams. Shot here comes vs. high-powered Tar Heels, who are 7-0 in NCAA games in Charlotte. So unless Hansbrough gets in foul trouble and WSU slows game to a crawl, look for UNC to cruise.No. 2 TENNESSEE (31-4) vs. No. 3 LOUISVILLE (26-8), 9:57, CBS.COACHES: Bruce Pearl (77-23 in third year at Tennessee) and Rick Pitino (168-66 in 7th year at Louisville).HOW THEY GOT HERE: Tennessee beat No. 15 American, 72-57, in the first round and No. 7 Butler, 76-71 in overtime, in the second round. Louisville beat No. 14 Boise State, 79-61, in the first round and No. 6 Oklahoma, 78-48, in the second round.SERIES HISTORY: Louisville leads, 11-7.LAST MEETING: Louisville won, 85-62, in 2005.STATS THAT MATTER: In 16 NCAA trips, Vols have never made it past Sweet 16. In 34 NCAA trips, Cardinals have made it to eight regional finals and six Final Fours including two NCAA titles (1980 and '86).TENNESSEE STARTERS: G Chris Lofton (16.1 ppg, all-time SEC leader, third in NCAA history with 429 career 3-pointers), F Tyler Smith (13.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.5 apg), G-F JaJuan Smith (14.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg), C-F Wayne Chism (9.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg), G Ramar Smith (7.5 ppg, 3.3 apg).LOUISVILLE STARTERS: C-F David Padgett (11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg), F Terrence Williams (11.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 4.5 apg), F Juan Palacios (6.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G Jerry Smith (10.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg), G Andre McGee (6.4 ppg).OUTLOOK: This should be entertaining battle of up-tempo teams with pressure defenses and fast-paced offenses. Cardinals' big front line could give smaller Vols problems. Lofton is best shooter on floor, but must find his stroke after making only 3 of 12 from beyond arc so far in Tournament and is apparently bothered by sore foot.WEST REGIONAL:No. 7 WEST VIRGINIA (26-10) vs. No. 3 XAVIER (29-6), 7:10, CBS.COACHES: Bob Huggins (26-10 in first year at West Virginia) and Sean Miller (92-28 in fourth year at Xavier).HOW THEY GOT HERE: West Virginia beat No. 10 Arizona, 75-65, in the first round and No. 2 Duke, 73-67, in second round. Xavier beat No. 14 Georgia, 73-61, in first round and No. 6 Purdue, 85-78, in second round.SERIES HISTORY: West Virginia leads, 1-0.LAST MEETING: West Virginia won, 82-65, in 1980.STATS THAT MATTER: Mountaineers are 23-3 when scoring 70 points or more and 3-7 when they don't. Musketeers are 22-0 when four or more players score in double figures and 7-6 when they don't.WEST VIRGINIA STARTERS: F Joe Alexander (16.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg), G Alex Ruoff (13.5 ppg, 3.0 apg), F Da'Sean Butler (12.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg), G Darris Nichols (10.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.2 apg), G Wellington Smith (5.3 ppg).XAVIER STARTERS: F Josh Duncan (11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg), F Derrick Brown (10.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg), G Drew Lavender (10.7 ppg, 4.3 apg), G-F C.J. Anderson (10.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg), G Stanley Burrell (10.0 ppg, 3.8 apg).OUTLOOK: Similar smallish teams that like to push ball and shoot from perimeter. Alexander-Duncan showdown could be key as WVU must keep XU from getting to FT line (53-of-66 on FTs in two NCAA wins). Musketeers rallied from double-digit deficits in first two rounds, but can't hope to do that again here.No. 1 UCLA (33-3) vs. No. 12 WESTERN KENTUCKY (29-6), 10, CBS.COACHES: Ben Howland (123-44 in fifth year at UCLA) and Darrin Horn (111-47 in fifth year at Western Kentucky).HOW THEY GOT HERE: UCLA beat Mississippi Valley State, 70-29, in the first round and Texas A&M, 53-49, in second round. Western Kentucky beat No. 5 Drake, 101-99 in overtime, in the first round and No. 13 San Diego. 72-63, in the second round.SERIES HISTORY: First meeting.STATS THAT MATTER: Bruins are 20-0 when holding foes to 60 points or less. Hilltoppers' 29 wins equal a Sun Belt Conference record for most wins in a season.UCLA STARTERS: C Kevin Love (Pac-10 player of the year, 17.2 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 55.7 pct. from field), G Darren Collison (15.2 ppg, 3.9 apg), G-F Josh Shipp (13.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg), G Russell Westbrook (12.6 ppg, 4.3 apg), F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (8.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg).WESTERN KENTUCKY STARTERS: G-F Courtney Lee (20.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 40.4 pct. on 3-pointers), G Tyrone Brazelton (13.3 ppg, 3.6 apg), G A.J. Slaughter (7.6 ppg), F Jeremy Evans (5.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg), F D.J. Magley (4.9 ppg).OUTLOOK: Was Bruins' close call with Texas A&M merely off day or sign of real problems? Lacking Bruins' depth, size and athleticism, Hilltoppers aren't likely to provide answer in first regional semifinal since 1993. Love should dominate inside with defensive-minded Bruins rising to challenge of talented Lee-Brazelton duo.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)