BEEN THERE, DONE THAT DOES MATTER UCLA BASKETBALL: EMPHASIS IS TO KEEP EVERYTHING AS NORMAL AS POSSIBLE FOR BRUINS' RETURN TO FINAL FOUR.

Byline: Brian Dohn

Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO - Alfred Aboya saw it during the pregame preparations when he watched Xavier warm up. The Musketeers were overflowing, and overburdened, with energy during last weekend's West Regional final.

Aboya then looked at his UCLA teammates, and noticed a been-here-before demeanor that continued into and throughout the game, which helped carry the Bruins to their third straight Final Four.

Now, the Bruins believe they hold a similar advantage in their quest to win a 12th national title, especially given Memphis, which is Saturday's opponent at the Alamodome, is in the Final Four for the first time since 1985.

The media obligations, the attention paid to the game, the sheer magnitude and pressure of playing in the Final Four are as comfortable as worn bedroom slippers to the Bruins.

For the Tigers, it's Christmas morning.

"You have to play like it's a normal game," UCLA junior point guard Darren Collison said. "You can't play like it's the Final Four. Play like it's a regular-season game you're trying to win."

Collison said the Bruins missed the big picture last season, when they lost 76-66 to Florida in the national semifinals. The previous year the Bruins fell to the Gators 73-57 in the title game.

"We still got two more games that we're trying to win, to win it all," Collison said. "You just don't want to make it to the Final Four. It's not about the Final Four. It's the final game."

Only two of the Tigers were alive (senior center Joey Dorsey was 15 months old and junior Chance McGrady was two months old) the last time Memphis was in the Final Four.

At UCLA, it used to be a preseason expectation to get the Final Four, and those days are back.

Junior power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will start at a third straight Final Four, making him the first player since Michigan State's Andre Hutson and Charlie Bell did from 1999-2001. The last UCLA players to do it were Bill Walton, Greg Lee and Keith Wilkes in 1972-74.

Collison was a starter last season after being a key player off the bench as a freshman, and Bruins senior reserve center Lorenzo Mata-Real is making his third straight Final Four appearance.

Meanwhile, fourth-year junior wing Josh Shipp is at the Final Four for a third time, although he was injured and did not play during UCLA's 2006 trip.

"It helps us out a lot because we know what to expect," Collison said. "On the court, we know what teams are going to bring us. You have to play your best. Off the court, you know how to handle the media obligations. You can't get caught up in all the hype, all the negativity that they say about you."

And the off-the-court stuff can be overwhelming, beginning today.

The Bruins' media obligations begin at 10:45 a.m., during which several key players are placed in makeshift news conference rooms and peppered with questions for 30 minutes or so. It is then off to a glorified shootaround, which is open to the public, for 50 minutes before players, as well as coach Ben Howland, are brought back to the media for another news conference. Locker rooms are also open to the media at this time, and every player is required to be available for interviews. There are also interviews with television and radio rights holders.

"So we're there for three hours, between a 50-minute required practice and the rest of it is all media," Howland said. "When you go through stuff like that for the first time, it's a little different than having done it before because it is draining. It's nonstop."

Collison also said reaching the Final Four the past two seasons better prepared UCLA for this season.

"It was extremely difficult because any time you try and get back to the same spot a third time, it's hard because a lot of teams know about you already," Collison said. "You've already put yourself on the map.

"A lot of teams had us marked on the calendar, (and) because (of that) it made us better as a team because we know we have to bring it every single day. We lost three games on the year and those are the games we didn't bring our best."

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UCLA's Darren Collison, left, and Kevin Love are cheered by fans as they walk through campus Wednesday on their way to the airport for a trip to San Antonio.

Reed Saxon/The Associated Press