European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 27 2007 stars and stripes Page 31 Mcaa tournament West regional 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 Afflalo the 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 could be in for a rematch  meet sundays Winner of the South regional final Between Florida and 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 May Trio 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 Mcaa tournament South regional Oden makes big difference for Ohio St by Jaime Aron the associated press san Antonio Ohio state coach Thad Matta looked Down the Bench and locked eyes with Greg Oden the big Man sitting out with three fouls nodded lets go Matta told him add ing his usual advice in such situations play real hard and dont foul anybody Oden followed orders dominating like Only a 7footer can Over the decisive stretch in the second half to carry the to seeded Buck eyes past Memphis 9276 and into the Mcaa tournaments final four Odens numbers in saturdays South regional championship we rent huge 17 Points nine re Bounds his presence however was while Oden was on the Bench after being charged with his third foul Ohio state 343 went from five Points up to five Points Down then the fabulous freshman went Back in and everything changed again controlling the inside at both ends of the floor he triggered a 208 surge that put the buckeyes Back in charge the second seed de tigers 334 tried hanging in by fouling but Ohio state foiled that plan by making 20 straight free throws the buckeyes 21st straight Victory takes them to at Lanta next weekend for a National semifinal matchup with the win Ner of sundays North Caroli a Georgetown game in Only 30 College games Oden has taken Over plenty of them none however was As impressive As this one mainly because it was so important this would probably be no 1 on the Impact meter Matta said i thought his rebounding his challenging shots finishing at the other end was tremendous muttered Memphis coach John Calipari Hes huge Hes huge in Only 24 minutes Oden made seven of eight shots and was 3for6 from the line with a Block that came on the first defensive stand after his return two of his dunks were so powerful it looked like he was doing Chi ups on the rim his larger Hanife presence was Best exhibited during a Cru Cial sequence Midway through the second half Oden was wide open under the Basket when he caught a pass that arrived at the same time As Mem Phis Chris Douglas Roberts the defender threw both arms around Odens Waist and shoved him for an intentional foul Oden still made the shot then one of two free throws tying the game at 60 Ohio state got to keep the Ball and went ahead 6260 and didst Trail again Memphis big Man Joey Dorsey said Friday he was Goliath and Oden was the Little Man score another one for David As Oden held Dorsey to four rebounds and Zero Points his first scoreless out ing of the season Dorsey also Drew four fouls in 19 minutes my coaches told me about it and i was just like Dang he just called me out Oden said i didst try to think about it i just wanted to go out there and play my game and not let his com ments get to my head in the big ten you have fans say it All the time opening round at us Arena Dayton Ohio Niagara 77 Florin y March 15  Boston College 84 Texas tech 75 Georgetown 80 Belmont 55 Michigan state 61 Marquette 49 North Vanderbilt 77 George Washington 44 Friday March 16 at Spokane Wash Texas 79 new Mexico state 67 Southern California 77 Arkansas 60 Georgetown 62 Boston College 55 North Carolina 81 Michigan state 67 at Sacramento Calif Vanderbilt 78 Washington state 7420t sunday March 18 at Spokane Wash Southern California 87 Texas 68 regional semifinals Friday March 23 at East author Ford j Georgetown 66 Vanderbilt 65 North Carolina 74 Southern California 64 regional championship sunday March 25 at East Rutherford no Irge town 296 is North Carolina Geo South regional first round thursday March 15 at Lexington by Louisville 78 Stanford 58 Texas 68 Pennsylvania 52 Ohio state 78 Central Conn state 57 xavier79 Brigham Young 77 Friday Marti 16 at Columbus Ohio Virginia 84 Albany by 57 Tennessee 121 Long Beach state 86 at new Orleans Memphis 73 North Texas 58 Nevada 77 Creighton 71 of second round saturday March 17 at Lexington by Ohio state 78 Xavierth of Texas 72 Louisville 69 sunday March 18 at Columbus Ohio Tennessee 77 Virginia 74 at new Orleans Memphis 78 Nevada 62 regional semifinals thursday March 22 at san Antonio 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 thursday March 15 at Buffalo by Maryland 82 Davidson 70 Butler 57 old Dominion 46 Friday March 16 at Chicago univ 67 Georgia tech 63 wis 76 Texas Christ 63 at Spokane Wash Winthrop 74 notre Dame 64 Oregon 58 Miami Ohio 56 at new Orleans Purdue 72 Arizona 63 Florida 112 Jackson state 69 second round saturday March 17 at Buffalo by Butler 62 Maryland 59 sunday March 18 at Chicago univ 74 Wisconsin 68 at Spokane Wash Oregon 75 Winthrop 61 at new Orleans Florida 74 Purdue 67 regional semifinals Friday March 23 St Louis Florida 65 Butler 57 Oregon 76 univ 72 regional championship sunday March 25 at St Louis Florida 85 Oregon 77 West regional first round thursday March 15 at Buffalo by Virginia Commonwealth 79 Duke 77 Pittsburgh 79 Wright state 58 at Sacramento Calif Urcla 70 Weber state 42 Indiana 70 Gonzaga 57 Kansas 107 Niagara 67 Kentucky 67 Vifian ova 58 at Columbus Ohio Virginia tech 54 Illinois 52 Southern Illinois 61 holy Cross 51 second round saturday March 17 at Buffalo by Pittsburgh 84 a Commonwealth 79 of at Sacramento Calif Urcla 54 Indiana 49 sunday March 18 at Columbus Ohio Southern Illinois 63 Virginia tech 48 at Chicago Kansas 88 Kentucky 76 regional semifinals thursday March 22 at san Jose Calif Kansas 61 Southern Illinois 58 Urcla 64 Pittsburgh 55 regional championship saturday March 24 at san lose Calif Urcla 68 Kansas 55 final four at the Georgia dome Atlanta National semifinals saturday March 31 Ohio state 343 is Carolina Florida 335 is Urcla 305 National championship monday april 2