West Region Preview

Top Dog – UCLA (1)
Coach Ben Howland’s club dominated Mississippi Valley State 70-29 in the first round — holding Jerry Rice’s alma mater to the lowest points total in the NCAA Tournament since 1946 — but struggled against Texas A&M 51-49 before advancing to the second weekend of the Big Dance. The Bruins are in search of their third consecutive Final Four and 12th all-time national championship. In order to accomplish either of those goals, freshman center Kevin Love (19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 blocked shots vs. Texas A&M) and junior point guard Darren Collison will need help from their supporting cast. Against the Aggies, Love and Collison combined to score 40 of the team’s 51 points.

Underdog – Western Kentucky (12)
Even before the NCAA Tournament, the hoops-heads who follow the NBA Draft closely knew who Courtney Lee was. Now, even casual basketball fans know about the Hilltoppers from Bowling Green, who are far from a one-man team. In the opening round against Drake, it took a desperation 26-foot 3-pointer by Ty Rogers as time expired in overtime to earn Western Kentucky’s first Tourney win since 1995. Following the 101-99 March Madness miracle, the Hilltoppers followed Lee, Rogers and Tyrone Brzelton to march past San Diego 72-63 and into the Sweet 16, where they will play UCLA.

Go-To Guy – Joe Alexander, F, West Virginia (7)
West Virginia’s blue-collar junior forward has made quite a name for himself lately. Since March 1, Alexander has averaged 24.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots over eight games, including two in the NCAA Tournament — a 75-65 win over Arizona and a 73-67 upset of Duke. Against the Blue Devils, the 6’8”, 230-pounder had 22 points, 11 boards and three blocks. The WVU leader will need to keep his March momentum going if the Mountaineers are going to climb past favored Xavier.

X-Factor – Drew Lavender, PG, Xavier (3)
The Musketeers will go as far as their 5’7” senior point guard can take them. Lavender is a flashbulb with a basketball who can light up a scoreboard by shooting or distributing to teammates. An Oklahoma transfer who was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school, Lavender led Xavier to a 73-61 comeback against Georgia in the first round before scoring 18 points and dishing out nine assists while blowing by Purdue 85-78 in the second round. Now, the smallest man will play the biggest role in hopes of the first-ever Final Four in Xavier history.