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 Darren Collison scored 19 points, Josh Shipp 18, and freshman Kevin Love had nine of his 11 in the second half after early foul trouble. UCLA (29-3) had its best 3-point shooting game of the season, hitting 14-of-25.
The top-seeded Bruins won their eighth in a row and advanced to Friday's semifinals against Southern California, which beat Arizona State 59-55. The rivals split in the regular season, with each winning on the other's floor.
Ryan Anderson scored 17 points and Patrick Christopher 12 to lead the ninth-seeded Golden Bears (16-15), who have lost eight of their last 10.
The Bears were looking to avenge last weekend's one-point loss at UCLA that ended on two controversial calls, both in the Bruins' favor. For their part, the Bruins were eager to dispel chatter that they didn't deserve to win after trailing nearly the entire game.
In that game, Shipp hit a rainbow jumper over the corner of the backboard with 1.5 seconds remaining, sending observers scurrying to the NCAA rule book to see whether the shot was legal.
That opportunity was created after it appeared Anderson was fouled when trapped in the left corner. The officials ruled the ball touched Anderson before going out of bounds although Cal argued it went off a UCLA player first.
This time, there were no questionable calls and UCLA erased its bitter memory from last year's tournament when Cal upset the Bruins in overtime in their opening game.
UCLA opened on a 16-4 run before DeVon Hardin's dunk -- Cal's first field goal more than 7 1/2 minutes into the game
-- launched a 13-3 spurt that got the Bears within two. Anderson added five points.
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But the Bears were derailed by 13 turnovers -- 18 overall -- that were instigated by a UCLA defense that produced eight steals.
The Bruins grabbed the momentum right back and rode it to a 39-25 halftime lead.
With Love playing just six minutes because of two fouls, Lorenzo Mata-Real produced the two biggest defensive plays of the half on huge blocks of Anderson and Christopher.
Love, the Pac-10 player and freshman of the year, returned to start the second half and made an immediate impact. He hit three consecutive 3-pointers and Shipp added another for a 51-33 lead.
Love has scored in double figures in all 32 games this season. He had seven rebounds and four assists, leaving to a standing ovation led by his parents, brother and sister sitting behind the Bruins' bench.
[Associated Press; By BETH HARRIS]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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