UCLA hopes it won't need miracle against Missouri

LOS ANGELES -- Seven years after Tyus Edney's length-of-the-court drive and layup beat the buzzer and Missouri, UCLA hopes it won't take another miracle shot to get past the Tigers.

The Bruins won that second-round game 75-74, and eventually earned their 11th national championship and only one since John Wooden retired in 1975.

Edney dribbled the length of the court in 4.8 seconds and got off his game-winner over 6-foot-9 Derek Grimm and 6-1 Jason Sutherland, stunning the Tigers and triggering a joyous midcourt celebration.

The teams play Thursday in a West Regional semifinal at San Jose.

"We were all grateful that Tyus made the shot and that we were able to extend our season and play another week," said coach Steve Lavin, then an assistant under Jim Harrick who took over when Harrick was fired 20 months later.

"Coach Harrick and the staff were under the usual great pressure to continue to win games and try and bring home a championship banner," Lavin recalled Tuesday.

Not much has changed since 1995. Lavin and his staff were under fire most of this season for the Bruins' roller-coaster performances.

For the impressive victories over then-No. 1 Kansas and at Stanford, there were several clunkers, including an early season loss to Ball State in Hawaii, a 29-point blowout by Oregon and a first-round exit in the Pac-10 Conference tournament.

"The lows are lower and the highs are higher at UCLA," said Lavin, who along with Duke's Mike Krzyzewski are the only coaches in the nation to reach the final 16 five times in the last six years.

In 1995, the Bruins were a No. 1 seed. They lost to Tulsa in the first round the previous year.

UCLA freshman Cedric Bozeman was 12 when he saw Edney's heroics while watching the game at his grandmother's house.

"That was a big giant-killer," Bozeman said. "Hopefully, we can squeak by and get a clean victory."