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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- With just a few minutes remaining in a tight game, Missouri coach Quin Snyder was joking with Kareem Rush
and encouraging his players to soak in every tense moment.
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Missouri got a solid performance from guard Clarence Gilbert (23 points) and strong 3-point shooting in this huge win over the Bruins.
The Tigers scored 52 big points in the second half to pull away after leading by just two at halftime. Kareem Rush scored 20 points for Missouri. Rush and Gilbert each hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Center Arthur Johnson had a double-double and outplayed UCLA center Dan Gadzuric.
So now Missouri coach Quin Snyder gets another shot against Oklahoma in an all-Big 12 matchup in the Elite Eight. Oklahoma beat Missouri 84-71 in their regular-season Big 12 meeting on OU's home turf. more...
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As the most successful 12th-seeded team in NCAA Tournament
history, the Tigers are free from the expectations that dogged them
all season -- and it's showing in some remarkable play.
Clarence Gilbert scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, and Rush scored 16 of his 20 after halftime to help the Tigers roar to their third straight upset, beating eighth-seeded UCLA 82-73 Thursday night.
Missouri is the first 12th-seeded team to reach the round of
eight. Now the Tigers have a chance at the first Final Four in
school history.
"We're enjoying this so much because of what we've been through and what we've become," Snyder said. "Each one of these games is so special to us. We worked so hard to get to this point, and we don't want to let it go."
Missouri, ranked as high as No. 2 early in the season before
slumping during conference play, is headed to the final eight for
the first time since 1994.
Snyder, the baby-faced 34-year-old coach in his third season at Missouri, credits his Tigers' third straight victory to the maturity they earned during a long fall from that lofty national ranking. It's not the easiest way to success, but it's working for Missouri.
Arthur Johnson had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers
(24-11), who advanced to face Oklahoma on Saturday in an all-Big 12
regional final. The second-seeded Sooners beat Arizona 88-67.
"I'm going to enjoy this for about one hour," Gilbert said.
"We have a big battle ahead. We have to get ready."
Against UCLA, the Tigers broke open a close game with tough defense and a barrage of outside shots by Rush and Gilbert, who each hit four 3-pointers -- seven coming after halftime.
Both credited Snyder with loosening them up. In particular, Snyder nudged Rush with various degrees of humor and bullying to encourage him to shoot after a quiet first half.
"Coach was telling me the whole second half: 'If you're open,
shoot it!"' Rush recalled with a grin. "We finally got a few
shots to go down ... but that run happened because we started
playing defense. Coach told us to buckle down, and we finally did."
Gilbert, the Big 12's top 3-point shooter, dislocated his finger
in the opening seconds, but shook it off for another outstanding
game.
"I looked at Coach, and he said, 'It'll be all right. Pop it back in,"' Gilbert said. "You knew this was big."
|  | | Clarence Gilbert scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half for Missouri. |
Matt Barnes scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half for
UCLA (21-12), which has reached the regional semifinals in five of
six seasons under coach Steve Lavin, but won there just once.
The Bruins led much of the game, but wilted under the
second-half pressure of Missouri's remarkable outside shooting.
UCLA was ahead 57-54 with 10 minutes to play, but Rush and Gilbert
propelled a 19-6 run that put it away before the final minutes.
"Everybody was saying we were the most talented eight seed ever," UCLA's Billy Knight said. "Well, that's probably the most talented 12 seed in the history of the tournament. They hit a lot of tough shots, with guys in their faces."
Rickey Paulding had 15 points for Missouri, while Johnson played
a solid inside game against UCLA's Dan Gadzuric. But the Tigers
were led by Gilbert and Rush, who flourished under Snyder's
season-long instructions to shoot early and often.
Knight had 16 points for UCLA in his final game. Knight,
Gadzuric and Barnes all finished their careers with another
difficult tourney loss.
Jason Kapono, UCLA's leading scorer, managed just seven points
against a Missouri defense keyed on stopping him. Only Barnes, who
scored nine straight points for the Bruins early in the second
half, appeared up to the challenge of facing a more physical Big 12
defense.
"I thought we made some nice eight- or nine-point runs, but
Missouri was always able to answer it," Lavin said.
"Statistically, they made their 3-point shots, and we didn't make
our 3-point shots. That's the difference."
Led by Barnes, UCLA twice was ahead by eight points in the
second half before Gilbert and Rush got going. Rush's fourth
3-pointer of the half gave the Tigers a 63-59 lead with 7 minutes
left, and Gilbert capped the night with his last 3-pointer 3
minutes later, giving Missouri a 10-point lead.
"I think they practice those off-balance, one-foot clutch shots
in practice, and that's why they make them during games," Barnes
said with a grimace.
Both teams were highly regarded early in the season -- UCLA rose
as high as No. 3 in the rankings -- before faltering. But both got
on track at the right time, with Missouri ripping through Miami and
Ohio State last weekend, while UCLA upset top-seeded Cincinnati in
double overtime in the second round.
In the schools' only previous NCAA Tournament meeting, in 1995,
UCLA won on Tyus Edney's length-of-the-floor drive for a
buzzer-beating layup. The Bruins went on to their 11th national title, with Lavin watching from the sideline as Jim Harrick's assistant. | 
An elite team