PHOENIX -- Under the direction of former Pitt coach Ben Howland, UCLA has become known as one of the best teams in Division I at stopping opponents from scoring, and yesterday Xavier became the latest victim to succumb to the Bruins' physical, suffocating man-to-man defense.

UCLA, the top seed in the West Region, manhandled the gritty but overmatched Musketeers from start to finish in an impressive, 76-57, win in an NCAA tournament regional final before 18,103 at US Airways Center.

UCLA had four players reach double figures, including all-everything freshman center Kevin Love, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds and was named the region's most outstanding player.

UCLA (35-3) will play the winner of the South Region final today between Memphis (36-1) and Texas (31-6) in the Final Four Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

It is the third consecutive season the Bruins have advanced to the Final Four, making them just the fifth team to accomplish the feat in the past 30 years.

But of the four teams that previously advanced to at least three Final Fours in a row (Duke had a run of five from 1988-92) only one -- Houston (1982-84) -- failed to win at least one national championship.

That's why the Bruins, who are 0 for 2 in the past two seasons in terms of winning national titles, say they are headed to San Antonio on a mission.

"This win feels good but we have been here before," said UCLA guard Darren Collison, who had 19 points and five assists. "After we lost to Florida [in the Final Four last year], it didn't feel too good. I was telling Luc [Richard Mbah a Moute] that the whole season was just erased from us last year and we don't ever want to experience that again. We want to go back this time, we want to be focused. "

Howland took exception when a reporter used the phrase "unfinished business" in a question because he said that is an "inaccurate" portrayal of what the players have accomplished. He then said that the Bruins essentially do have some unfinished business in the Final Four and believes this year's team is built to do just that.

"I've said before, this team is by far the best team we've had in the last three years because we do have a key ingredient this year, and that is [Love] an inside player who can score and rebound like nobody else in the country. But this is going to be the best field for the Final Four of the last three years regardless of who wins the other three games."

Last night, UCLA was simply too much for the Musketeers (30-7) to handle, particularly the Bruins' defense, which dictated the tempo the entire game.

UCLA limited the normally excellent-shooting Musketeers to just 36.2 percent (21 of 58) from the field, including 21 percent from the 3-point line (4 for 19). The Bruins' clear advantage was under the basket where they dominated. They held a 37-28 rebounding edge, scored 34 points in the paint and blocked six shots.

Xavier coach Sean Miller said that it was very clear who the better team was, and it wasn't the Musketeers, who won the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title for the second year in a row and finished with a school-record 30 wins.

"I felt like to beat UCLA we would need to play at our best and we would need some combination of them not being at their best," said Miller, who made it clear after the game that he is staying at Xavier despite rumors that he is a candidate for several other jobs, including Indiana.