PHOENIX – UCLA can make a double-digit win look difficult.
With Kevin Love scoring a career-high 29 points, the Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead and hung on to defeat Western Kentucky 88-78 in the NCAA Tournament's West Regional on Thursday night.
Top-seeded UCLA (34-3) will play No. 3 seed Xavier on Saturday for a trip to its third consecutive Final Four.
The Bruins were more relieved than happy to survive the Hilltoppers, who took advantage of UCLA's sloppy play to pull within four late in the game.
"Unacceptable, unacceptable, unacceptable," Love said. "That's all I can say.
"It was unacceptable the way we played in the second half. If we're going to keep playing like that, we're not going to be in this tournament very long."
The Bruins routed Mississippi Valley State in the first round but haven't resembled a No. 1 seed since. They sweated out a two-point victory over Texas A&M in the second round.
"That was another exciting game for all the Bruin fans out there," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "We want to keep you guys awake and on the edge of your seat."
Without Love, the Bruins would be in hibernation already. Love had 14 rebounds and hit 10 of 14 shots from the floor.
Tyrone Brazelton scored 31 points – 25 in the second half – for 12th-seeded Western Kentucky (29-7).
"We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half," Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn said. "I'm unbelievably proud of my team."
Early on, the Bruins looked primed for a blowout, blitzing the Hilltoppers with a 23-4 run midway through the first half.
UCLA led 41-20 at halftime, but Western Kentucky wouldn't go away. The Hilltoppers began pressing, and the Bruins started to unravel. They had 12 turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the second half and finished with 19, a season high.
The Bruins appeared to be in trouble when point guard Darren Collison fouled out – for the first time this year – with 5:39 to play.
Collison had four points and four turnovers.
As the US Airways Center crowd got behind them, the Hilltoppers went on a 19-6 run to whittle the lead to 61-57 with 6:50 to play. Brazelton capped the run by scoring eight unanswered points in less than a minute, on back-to-back three-pointers and a layup.
But A.J. Slaughter missed a three-pointer that would have pulled Western Kentucky within one point, and then Love scored from close range. Josh Shipp, an erratic long-range shooter, hit a three to push UCLA's lead to 68-59 with 4:30 to play.
"That, in a nutshell, was the game," Horn said. "It changed all the momentum. We had spent so much energy to get back into it, played so hard to get back, if that three goes down and we cut it to one, it's a totally different situation down the finish."
