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Brooks, Oregon look to continue runnin' vs. UNLV

Mar 23, 2007 - 1:44 PM No. 7 UNLV (30-6) at No. 3 Oregon (28-7) Friday 9:40 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Once again, Aaron Brooks and Oregon are not the media darlings of their upcoming NCAA Tournament game. They like it that way.

Brooks and third-seeded Oregon will try to thrive as underdogs once again when they face No. 7 Nevada-Las Vegas in Friday's semifinals of the Midwest Region.

The winner will advance to face either top seed and defending champion Florida or Butler in the final on Sunday.

Despite coming off an impressive run to the Pac-10 Conference tournament title and a strong 75-61 victory over Winthrop in the second round on Sunday, the Ducks once again have to take a backseat.

Similar to their matchup with the Eagles, who scored probably the biggest upset of the tournament in the first round over Notre Dame, the Runnin' Rebels have gotten much of the press due to storylines concerning their return to success from the early 1990s and the presence of coach Lon Kruger and son Kevin.

That lack of exposure could not please Oregon coach Ernie Kent anymore.

"I hope we can continue to fly under the radar and win some more games," he said.

Meanwhile, Brooks and his teammates used that lack of respect against Winthrop as a motivation, pulling away from the upset favorite early in the second half. "I think we just took it as a challenge," Brooks said. "Analysts are going to pick who they think will win and we just took it as a challenge and a chip on our shoulder and we came out and played like that."

Brooks, who scored 22 points against the Eagles, will look to do that again as the Ducks try to advanced to a regional final for sixth time in school history and first since 2002.

The senior is one of three stellar guards for the Ducks, combining with Bryce Taylor and freshman Tajuan Porter to average 46.6 points and shoot better than 40 percent on 3-pointers.

Despite being the chic pick, there is definitely a lot to like about UNLV, which owes much of its resurgence to Kevin Kruger, who has added a winning spirit to the club.

That was most apparent when the 6-2 guard hit three 3-pointers in a 2 1/2-minute span late in the second half to key a decisive 15-6 run, leading to a 74-68 victory over second-seeded Wisconsin on Sunday.

Kruger finished with four 3-pointers and 16 points and Wendell White continued to improve from a broken jaw that plagued the forward toward the end of the regular season by scoring 22 points.

Making just their third appearances in the NCAAs in the past 16 years, the Runnin' Rebels can seal their first appearance in the regional final since 1991, the second of back-to-back Final Four trips.