European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 272007 stars and stripes Page 31 Mcaa to Anent West redo Iri go South Young men Urcla off to Atlanta and final four after rolling past no 1 seed Kansas by Greg Beacham the associated press san Jose Calif with Good natured shoves and claps the Urcla Bruins formed a Circle around Arron right Ful Center of attention during an exceptional second half that should help erase memo Ries of his past mediocrity in big games Afflalo scored 15 of his 24 Points and the Bruins held off to seeded Kansas 6855 in the West regional final saturday night Afflalo hiding behind a Souve Nir hat and shirt from the big Gest game of his career tried to be just one of the Guys even though he was the main reason Urcla is heading Back to the final four for a second consecutive season i dont really think about it Dur ing the game but when youre making shots youre gaining Confidence said Afflalo who made All six of his shots after halftime my teammates showed a lot of Confidence in me if in fortunate enough to make shots keep shooting keep playing that has to be a scorers mentality Darren Collison added 14 Points and four big free throws in the final seconds while leading the Bruins Stellar defensive Effort but whenever the Bruins faced offensive trouble Afflalo seemed to solve it hitting a big shot or drawing the defense to set up a teammate second seeded Urcla 305 made its halftime Lead stand up in an appropriately tense game be tween schools with Rich traditions and a combined 29 final four appearances including an inca record 17th for Urcla next week in Atlanta the Bruins edged ahead of North Carolina which has 16 going into sundays East regional final against Georgetown the Bruins who lost to Florida in last seasons National title game will get a rematch after Florida won the Midwest Region Al 8577 Over Oregon we do feel like weve been Here before and we know what to expect Collison said we Felt that we didst finish the Job last year so were going to enjoy this moment and then go Back and try to finish it Brandon Rush scored 18 Points for the Jay Hawks the first no 1 seed to be eliminated from the tournament their 14game winning Streak also was snapped in the schools first Mcaa tournament loss in California where this game had a decided Home court feel for the Bruins Urcla made a 144 run and led 3531 at halftime when Josh Shipp hit a three Pointer at the Buzzer the Bruins then took Over with an 114 run after halftime every time Kansas attempted a comeback Afflalo and Collison met them with a clutch Basket or a big defensive play and the Jay Hawks ran out of time Marcio Jose Duclas Luc Richard mbah a moute rests a rebound from Kansas Russell Robinson in saturday nights West regional title game at san Jose Calif second seeded Urcla beat to seeded Kansas 6855 to Advance to the Mcaa tournaments final four next weekend at Atlanta opening round Niagara 77 Florida 69 East regional first round Boston College 84 Texas tech 75 Georgetown 80 Belmontes Michigan state 61 Marquette 49 North Carolina 86 Eastern Kentucky 65 Washington state 70 Oral Roberts 54 Vanderbilt 77 George Washington 44 Texas 79 new Mexico state 67 Southern California 77 Arkansas 60 second round Georgetown 62 Boston College 55 North Carolina 81 Michigan state 67 Vanderbilt 78 Washington state 74 20t Southern California 87 Texas 68 regional semifinals Georgetown 65 Vanderbilt 65 North Carolina 74 Southern California 64 regional championship sunday March 25 at East Rutherford no Georgetown 96 North Carolina 84 of South regional first round Louisville 78 Stanford 58 Texas 68 Pennsylvania 52 Ohio state 78 Centra Conn state 57 Xavier 79 Brigham Young 77 Virginia 84 Albany by 57 Tennessee 121 Long Beach state 86 Memphis 73 North Texas 58 Nevada 77 Creighton 71 of second round Ohio state 78 Xavier 71 of Texas 72 Louisville 69 Tennessee 77 Virginia 74 Memphis 78 Nevada 62 regional semifinals Memphis 65 Texas 64 Ohio state 85 Tennessee 84 regional championship saturday March 24 at san Antonio Ohio state 92 Memphis 76 Midwest regional first round Maryland 82 Davidson 70 Butler 57 old Dominion 46 univ 67 Georgia tech 63 wis 76 Texas Christi 63 Winthrop 74 notre Dame 64 Oregon 58 Miami Ohio 56 Purdue 72 Arizona 63 Florida 112 Jackson state 69 second round Butler 62 Maryland 59 univ 74 Wisconsin 68 Oregon 75 Winthrop 61 Florida 74 Purdue 67 regional semifinals Florida 65 Burnt 57 Oregon 76 univ 72 at so Louis Florida 85 Oregon 77 West regional first round Virginia Commonwealth 79 Duke 77 Pittsburgh 79 Wright state 58 Urcla 70 Weber state 42 Indiana 70 Gonzaga 57 Kansas 107 Niagara 67 Kentucky 67 Villanova 58 Virginia tech 54 Illinois 52 Southern Illinois 61 holy Cross 51 second round Pittsburgh 84 a Commonwealth 79 of Urcla 54 Indiana 49 Southern Illinois 63 Virginia tech 48 Kansas 88 Kentucky 76 regional semifinals Kansas 61 Southern Illinois 58 Urcla 64 Pittsburgh 55 regional championship saturday March 24 at san Jose Calif Urcla 68 Kansas 55 final four at Atlanta National semifinals saturday March 31 Ohio state 343 is Georgetown 306 Florida 335 is Urcla 305 National championship monday april 2 Florida gains rematch with Urcla by Nancy Armour the associated press st Louis go ahead hate Florida All you want but you cant beat these gators not in the Mcaa tournament not yet anyway inside outside Early late the gators find a Way to get it done when theres a title at stake Joakim Noah and his buddies Are heading Back to the final four looking for a second straight National championship that was Worth More to them than Aba millions Lee Humphrey made seven three pointers and finished with 23 Points and Taurean Green added 21 to Lead the gators to an 8577 Victory Over third seeded Oregon in the Midwest regional final sunday afternoon it was their 16th straight postseason Vic tory a stretch that includes one National championship and two Southeastern conference titles its so great because we were under a Microscope said Noah who finished with 14 Points and 14 rebounds there was so much hate but we know that what mat ters is whats going on Here next Stop for the to seeded gators Atlanta where  play Urcla in the National semifinals in a rematch of last years championship game Florida won that one in a rout 7357 for its first National championship and the first half of what would turn out to be the Gator slam when Florida beat Ohio state for the National foot Ball title in january the gators be came the first school to be champs in both sports at the same time now Florida 335 would like to win both crowns in the same Calendar year and make a Little history As the first team since Duke in 199192 to win Bac Toback basketball tides and the first Ever to do it with the same five starters Oregon was trying to get to the final four for the first time since winning it All in 1939 the first year of the Mcaa tournament the ducks 298 were done in by foul trouble and Tajuan Porter going cold Porter the 5foot6 guard who went off for eight threes and 33 Points in Friday nights regional semifinal didst make his first Field goal until Only 40 seconds remained in the game he finished with 10 Points missing 10 of 12 shots Aaron Brooks led Oregon with 27 Points and Malik Hairston added 18 and five rebounds be fore fouling out with to play the gators have yet to play their Best or even a consistent game in the Mcaa tournament Treyve had to come from behind in each game and have yet to get a dominant performance from their big Guys and guards at the same time but half a gators team is better than most wholes after Al Hor Ford carried the gators in the semifinal it was Humphrey and Green doing the work sunday Brooks made a three and Fol Lowed with a Layup to tie the game at 45 with to play Green made a three then scored on a Layup that brought the Florida Bench to its feet and gave the gators a 5045 Lead with to go after a timeout Humphrey hit a three to make it 5347 with to play and Oregon got no closer than four thereafter Humphreys seven threes gave him 280 for his career a Florida record and Hes made a habit of hitting them when the gators need him most Hes made at least two threes in each of his last 10 postseason games when he was 37for82 from Long Range the gators being the gators though they had to make it inter Esting Florida didst make a Field goal in the last and missed seven free throws in the last two min utes allowing Oregon to whittle a nine Point deficit Down to four Florida put it away As Green went 3for4 from the line and Porter was called for travelling with nine seconds left