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Final Four Capsules

Submitted by SHNS on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 17:25

Match-up capsule previews of Saturday's NCAA Final Four games in San Antonio. All times Eastern, seeds are indicated and all stats through Monday.No. 1 UCLA (35-3) vs. No. 1 MEMPHIS (37-1), 6:07 p.m., CBS.COACHES: Ben Howland (125-44 in fifth year at UCLA) and John Calipari (218-64 in 8th year at Memphis).HOW THEY GOT HERE: UCLA beat No. 16 Mississippi Valley State, 70-29, in the first round, No. 9 Texas A&M, 53-49, in second round, No. 12 Western Kentucky, 88-78, in the regional semifinals and No. 3 Xavier, 76-57, in the regional finals. Memphis beat No. 16 Texas-Arlington, 87-63, in the first round, No. 8 Mississippi State, 76-69, in the second round, No. 5 Michigan State, 92-74, in the regional semifinals and No. 2 Texas, 85-67, in the regional final.SERIES HISTORY: UCLA leads, 4-2.LAST MEETING: UCLA won 50-45, in the 2006 NCAA West regional final.STATS THAT MATTER: Bruins are 6-1 in games decided by four points or less. Tigers were second in nation in scoring margin (80-62) and had only three games decided by four points or less going 2-1 (wins over Southern Cal and UAB, loss to Tennessee).UCLA STARTERS: C Kevin Love (Pac-10 player of the year, 17.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 56.5 pct. from field), G Darren Collison (14.8 ppg, 3.8 apg), G-F Josh Shipp (12.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg), G Russell Westbrook (12.5 ppg, 4.3 apg), F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (8.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg).MEMPHIS STARTERS: G Chris Douglas-Roberts (17.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg), G Derrick Rose (14.6 ppg, 4.7 apg), F Robert Dozier (9.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg), G Antonio Anderson (8.4 ppg, 3.5 apg), C Joey Dorsey (7.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.9 blocks).OUTLOOK: This might be repeat of ugly game two years ago when defense ruled (lowest scoring regional final in 20 years) as Bruins won despite making only four shots in second half. In third straight Final Four, UCLA believes inside presence of Love is missing ingredient for record 12th national crown. But the super-freshman will have to deal with Dorsey and Dozier, the kind of physical presence he hasn't seen so far.No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA (36-2) vs. No. 1 KANSAS (35-3), 40 minutes following UCLA-Memphis, CBS.COACHES: Roy Williams (142-32 in fifth year at North Carolina) and Bill Self (140-32 in fifth year at Kansas).HOW THEY GOT HERE: North Carolina beat No. 16 Mount St. Mary's, 113-74, in the first round, No. 9 Arkansas, 108-77, in the second round and No. 4 Washington State, 68-47, in the regional semifinals and No. 3 Louisville, 83-73, in the regional finals. Kansas beat No. 16 Portland State, 85-61, in the first round, No. 8 UNLV, 75-56, in the second round, No. 12 Villanova, 72-57, in the regional semifinals and No. 10 Davidson, 59-57, in the regional final.SERIES HISTORY: North Carolina leads, 6-2.LAST MEETING: North Carolina won, 67-56, in the 2002 Preseason NIT.STAT THAT MATTERS: Tar Heels are 29-1 when scoring 80 or more points while Jayhawks are 34-1 when holding opponents to under 80 points.NORTH CAROLINA STARTERS: F Tyler Hansbrough (22.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg), G Wayne Ellington (16.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 41.4 pct. on 3-pointers), G Ty Lawson (12.8 ppg, 5.3 apg), F Deon Thompson (8.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg), G-F Marcus Ginyard (7.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg).KANSAS STARTERS: F Darrell Arthur (12.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg), G Mario Chalmers (12.7 ppg, 4.4 apg), G Brandon Rush (13.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg), F Darnell Jackson (11.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg), G Russell Robinson (7.4 ppg, 4.1 apg).OUTLOOK: Tar Heels make first NCAA appearance outside of home state in what should be racehorse game (UNC is second in nation in scoring, 89.2 ppg, Jayhawks are 12th at 80.6 ppg). Lawson must handle KU traps as Jayhawks pressure defense often creates easy KU baskets. Hansbrough has been one-man gang lately (28 pts., 13 rebs., 2 steals vs. Louisville) so Jackson, Arthur must avoid foul trouble to contain him.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)