UCLA Ohio State

Region: West, No. 2 seed

Coach: Ben Howland

Final Four appearances: 17

Championships: 11

Record: 30-5

Scoring leader: Arron Afflalo, 16.7 ppg.

Tournament scoring leader: Afflalo, 18.3 ppg.

Rebounding leader: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, 7.5 rpg.

Tournament rebounding leader: Lorenzo Matta, 6.8 rpg.

Assists leader: Darren Collison, 5.8 apg.

Tournament assists leader: Collison, 3.8 rpg.

Overview: Coach Ben Howland has convinced his team that defense is the key to advancing through a tournament in which bright lights and big occasions sometimes makes shooting straight a problem. To wit, the Bruins have held their four tournament opponents to an average of 50.3 ppg. The Bruins are often criticized for their scoring lapses, but Pac-10 player of the year Arron Afflalo has taken charge of the offense, scoring more than his season average (16.7 ppg) in three of four tournament games.

Region: South, No. 1 seed

Coach: Thad Matta

Final Four appearances: 10

Championships: 1

Record: 34-3

Scoring leader: Greg Oden,

15.4 ppg.

Tournament scoring leader: Ron Lewis, 21 ppg.

Rebounding leader: Oden,

9.5 rpg.

Tournament rebounding leader: Oden, 8.5 rpg.

Assists leader: Mike Conley Jr., 6.2 apg.

Tournament assists leader: Conley 4.3 apg.

Overview: Ohio State has 7-foot center Greg Oden holding down the middle and guards Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler stretching things with outside shots. They’ve shown the ability to play all styles but are particularly adept on defense, limiting opponents to 60.4 points a game and 39.7 percent shooting. The Buckeyes have two stirring come-from-behind victories (Xavier and Tennessee) in this tournament and have made 33 3-pointers in four games, though they were only 5 for 17 vs. Memphis.