SAN ANTONIO - A return to form is sending the Minnesota Gophers somewhere they have never been - the Final Four.
The Gophers, who were carried to victory by two players in their previous game, used their depth, balance and size to defeat UCLA 80-72 Saturday and win the Midwest Regional title.
''This is the way we play basketball,'' coach Clem Haskins said. ''What happened the other night against a fine Clemson ballclub is very rare. ... ''We're a balanced ballclub.''
The Gophers (31-3) had five players score in double figures, although no one scored more than 18. They had nine players with double-figure minutes, and no one had to play all the way.
Contrast that with UCLA, which needed to have two players go 40 minutes due to a lack of depth. The Bruins (24-8) had center Jelani McCoy for just 13 minutes because he aggravated a chest injury, so they essentially played with six players.
Minnesota wound up scoring 51 points inside and outrebounded UCLA 38-33. After committing 11 first-half turnovers, the Gophers had four in the second half when they overcame a 10-point deficit.
And they won despite a subpar game from point guard Eric Harris, who was bothered by a shoulder injury and foul trouble.
''I thought they did a good job of just playing hard,'' said Charles O'Bannon, who had 22 points for the Bruins. ''We started to get a little winded and they continued to push it, continued to throw in fresh bodies.''
Like Quincy Lewis, who scored 15 points. Ten came during a 16-4 run that got Minnesota back into the game, and he finished 7-of-7 from the foul line. Two nights earlier, he had missed two free throws that would have beaten Clemson in regulation. Instead, the Gophers needed two overtimes to win.
Minnesota also had Charles Thomas, who came off the bench to score 14 points for the third time in the tournament.
''I think UCLA's goal was to come out and shut me and Sam (Jacobson) down,'' said Bobby Jackson, who followed his 36-point effort against Clemson with 18 points and nine rebounds Saturday. ''I don't think they paid any attention to these two guys.''
If so, then Lewis and Thomas made sure they were noticed.
''It doesn't surprise me,'' Haskins said. ''They're two starters. They happen to be role players on our ball club, but they're starting players. I look at my bench as starters.''
UCLA's starters seemed to have things in control late in the first half and early in the second. The Bruins outscored Minnesota 10-4 to take a five-point lead at halftime, widened it to 10 in the first 3:10 of the second half, and led 48-39 after a shot by O'Bannon with 13:42 left.
Then Lewis got the Gophers going. He scored 10 of Minnesota's 12 points in the 16-4 run, and Thomas capped it with two baskets of his own to give the Gophers a 55-52 lead with 7:35 remaining. All the field goals came in close.
Meanwhile, the Gophers held UCLA to 2-of-8 shooting during that six-minute stretch and came up with four turnovers.
''We just made some great defense and made some key steals and the ball wound up in his hands,'' Jackson said of Lewis. ''Quincy's a great offensive player.''
The game was tied at 57 when Minnesota again broke away. Courtney James made a free throw, Jacobson had a tip-in and a jumper, then Jackson scored on a drive through the lane and Thomas made a breakaway layup for a 66-59 lead with 2:35 remaining.
After UCLA drew within 66-64 on a three-point play by Toby Bailey and a shot by O'Bannon, Jackson and Lewis sealed the victory by making their free throws in the final 1:45.
''Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn't. Today was one of those days,'' said UCLA point guard Cameron Dollar.
''The key to the game, obviously, was McCoy being out,'' coach Steve Lavin said. ''We didn't have a strong defensive presence in the middle and they exploited that.''
McCoy played just 13 minutes, only three in the second half.
Lavin, who guided the Bruins through a rocky season that started with the firing of former coach Jim Harrick, became tearful in his postgame news conference when he was asked about his emotions in the final seconds.
''Just knowing that I've been blessed to have an incredible group of young people to work with, and just all the thrills they've given our basketball family this year,'' he said. ''That's basically what you're feeling. You feel bad for them.''
No one was feeling bad on the Minnesota sideline. The Gophers' next stop is Indianapolis.
