BRUINS IN MAUI FINAL WITH WIN AFFALO STRUGGLES, BUT UCLA GETS BY KENTUCKY UCLA 73, KENTUCKY 68.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- UCLA's season is only a week old, but Tuesday the senior-less Bruins gave a glimpse of how good they could be.

Despite star guard Arron Afflalo's horrible shooting performance, and despite a woeful effort from beyond the 3-point arc and an embarrassing free-throw display, the fifth-ranked Bruins rebounded, defended and worked their way into the Maui Invitational title game.

The Bruins' pressure defense forced key turnovers in the final minutes to disrupt a Kentucky comeback, and sealed a 73-68 victory against the No. 20 Wildcats in front of 2,400 at a sold-out Lahaina Civic Center.

The Bruins meet No. 19 Georgia Tech in today's final at 7 p.m. The Yellow Jackets rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit and beat No. 12 Memphis 92-85.

``You don't come down here to lose,'' Afflalo said. ``Georgia Tech is not an inferior team. They can beat us, so we have to come out and play hard. This is a very important game. I don't think this trip will be a success if we don't win.''

The Bruins (3-0) may need better production from Afflalo to claim their first Maui crown. He finished with 14 points, but shot 5 of 18. He made 1 of 8 from beyond the arc, low-lighting a UCLA team effort of 2 of 19 from 3-point range. Furthermore, the Bruins were 13 of 24 from the free-throw line.

``What it says to me is we do have good character,'' said Bruins coach Ben Howland, who is now 6-14 against ranked teams at UCLA. ``It showed a lot of toughness and character the way we finished the game.''

UCLA power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who scored six points in the final four minutes, finished with a game-high 18 points. Center Lorenzo Mata had a career-high 12 points and matched his career-best with 11 rebounds.

Guard Joe Crawford led the Wildcats (3-1) with 16 points, but combined with point guard Ramel Bradley to commit seven of Kentucky's 17 turnovers. UCLA turned the ball over eight times.

``A couple of stops at the defensive end and we probably have a chance to win the game,'' Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said.

The Wildcats cut a 14-point first-half deficit to 38-30 at intermission, then toughened up defensively, rebounded with more moxie and began to hit their outside shots.

With Bruins point guard Darren Collison on the bench to begin the second half with three fouls, Kentucky carved further into the deficit with a quick start, pulling within 40-37 on Bradley's two free throws.

The Wildcats took their first lead when Derrick Jasper made a pair of free throws to make it 50-48 midway through the second half, but the Bruins responded quickly and did not relinquish the lead after Afflalo's basket and free throw and free throw made it 53-50.

``I have to sit here and thank my teammates,'' Afflalo said. ``My team never lost confidence and they kept giving me the ball. I'm thanking God this is a 5- on-5 game. My adrenalin was up a little bit. I never lost confidence. It just wasn't there. I don't expect to shoot 1 for 8 from three again.''

Mata provided a lay-in and two free throws as the Bruins took a 63-59 lead, but Kentucky chipped its way to within 63-61. That's when Mbah a Moute countered with a jump-stop bucket and a lay-in.

With UCLA clinging to a 67-65 lead in the final two minutes, the Wildcats had a pair of chances to take the lead following turnovers, but one resulted in a Josh Shipp steal and then Collison stole the ball from Ramel Bradley with 30 seconds remaining and fed Mbah a Moute for a lay-in to make it 69-65. Afflalo then clinched the win with a lay-in with 8.5 seconds remaining.

``I was pretty fortunate,'' Collison said. ``(Bradley) just fumbled the ball and I just took it away.''

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Photo:

(color) UCLA guard Arron Afflalo, right, pulls up for a shot over Kentucky's Jodie Meeks.

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Box:

NO. 5 UCLA vs. NO. 19 GEORGIA TECH

- Brian Dohn