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UCLA hopes to begin march to fourth Final Four

Nov 12, 2008 - 11:27 AM Prairie View A&M at No. 4 UCLA, 10:00 p.m. EST

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- No. 4 UCLA looks to begin another successful campaign when it hosts Prairie View A&M in the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer on Wednesday.

The winner of the contest will move on to face Weber State or Miami, Ohio on Thursday.

UCLA is coming off its third straight Final Four, although it has yet to win a national title in those appearances. The Bruins were was defeated by Memphis in the national semifinals, 78-63, last season.

The Bruins are projected to win the Pac-10 Conference again but have lost some major firepower from last season.

Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Love and guard Russell Westbrook were both lottery picks in the NBA Draft and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was selected in the second round.

UCLA does return senior guards Darren Collison and Josh Shipp and freshman Jrue Holiday should step in and start right away.

The Panthers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference are coming off an 8-25 campaign, which included lopsided losses to Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

Prairie View A&M lost its top two scorers from last season and senior guard Derek Johnson is the team's leading returning scorer. Johnson averaged 11.0 points a season ago.

The three straight Final Four appearances is UCLA's longest stretch since it made 10 in a row from 1967-76.