Western Kentucky-UCLA: pregame

Oddsmakers say top-seeded UCLA (33-3) is a 12-point favorite over the 12th-seeded Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (29-6) tonight in Phoenix in the second NCAA West Regional semifinal.

With an over-under line of 134, the final score is supposed to be 73-61 for the Bruins. In the opener, starting at 4:10 p.m., seventh-seeded West Virginia is favored by 1 1/2 points over third-seed Xavier. UCLA’s game will follow 30 minutes after the first game is over.

>> From Seth Davis’ take on tonight’s game at SI.com: "The Hilltoppers’ inside duo of Jeremy Evans and D.J. Magley averaged a combined 8.5 rebounds this season. [UCLA's] Kevin Love averaged 10.6 by himself. Western Kentucky has done well to get this far, but in this one they are badly, badly overmatched."

>> Western Kentucky is making its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1993, when its current coach, Darrin Horn, was a sophomore reserve guard on the team. In Horn’s five years as the Hilltoppers' coach, this is his first trip to the NCAA Tournament. UCLA's Ben Howland has made the tournament in four of his five seasons as the Bruins' head coach.

>> The Hilltoppers started the season 10-5, but are 19-1 since. The Bruins are riding a 12-game win streak into this game.

>> Western Kentucky has made one Final Four, back in 1971, when it lost to Villanova in double overtime in the national semis and then defeated Kansas in the third-place game. UCLA won its fifth straight title and seventh in eight years under John Wooden that season by beating Villanova, 68-62, in the title game. The star of Western Kentucky’s team was future NBA center Jim McDaniels, who scored 2,238 points (27.6 average) in his three seasons there. Current Hilltoppers guard Courtney Lee has 2,220 points in his four seasons at Bowling Green and could become the career scoring leader with 19 points tonight.

>>The teams have never faced each other before, but Western Kentucky has an all-time record of 3-4 versus Pac-10 teams.

>> Western Kentucky University is in Bowling Green, Ky., which also is where Chevrolet has its Corvette plant. It is about 60 miles north of Nashville, and is the fourth-largest city in Kentucky, with a population of 53,000. It also is the national headquarters of Fruit of the Loom and Duncan Hines, the baking company named for its founder, who was a Bowling Green native.

>> UCLA hasn’t exactly dominated in this round of the tournament. Howland’s teams won their regional semi games by two points over Gonzaga in 2006 (73-71) and nine over Pittsburgh (64-55) last season. Since the tournament was expanded in 1974, UCLA has a 10-7 record in Sweet 16 games, but 9-3 in the West Regional semis and hasn’t lost since 1978.