Just in time

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Well before he successfully played "Beat the Shot Clock" twice during a slump-busting 24-point performance in UCLA's 68-55 win over Kansas on Saturday, time was running out on Arron Afflalo.

The junior guard needed to rediscover the jump shot that helped him earn Pac-10 Player of the Year and first-team All-America honors, then suddenly eluded him at the end of the regular season.

His shooting problems were dismissed as an off game when he managed just three points in a shocking loss to California in the Pac-10 tournament. But after a brief pause in a NCAA tournament-opening blowout of Weber State, his offensive struggles became a daily topic of conversation with the media when he suffered back-to-back brickfests against Indiana (2 for 11) and Pittsburgh (3 for 11).

Afflalo kept missing. And the Bruins kept winning. Certainly, there was no way that equation could add up to a Final Four for UCLA if its leading scorer continued to miss regularly from the field, not with the way the top-seeded Jayhawks and their wealth of offensive-skilled NBA prospects rang up points.

"A lot gets written about my shot, but that's a part of basketball and a part of human nature," Afflalo said of his untimely five-game stretch of 31-percent shooting (18 for 58). "I'm going to miss and I'm going to make. But as long as I'm there to be effective for my teammates and put winning first, I really don't worry about it too much."

"Whenever I don't play well and we lose, that disturbs me. Because I feel like I didn't present myself in the best possible [way] for my team to win," Afflalo added. "But as long as we're winning, it really doesn't bug me as much as people think."

The Bruins are returning to the Final Four mostly because they played their trademark relentless defense and forced Kansas into 41-percent shooting. But they wouldn't be hopping on a plane for Atlanta on Wednesday if Afflalo hadn't found his jumper.

Matched up with Kansas' best player, 6-foot-6 Brandon Rush, the 6-5 Afflalo won the battle of projected NBA first-rounders (should they leave school early) by making a lot more than he missed in a spectacular 10-for-15 shooting night.

Afflalo came up big particularly in the second half when he drained two three-pointers with UCLA fans counting down the shot clock. The first buzzer-beater pushed UCLA out to a 40-33 lead and the second stretched the margin to 49-40 with 10:18 remaining. Both times, Rush stood one-on-one with Afflalo at the top of the key only to get beat.

"He made shots that were probably a lot harder than the ones we missed," said Kansas coach Bill Self, who lamented the Jayhawks' errant layup attempts. "That's what happens when you guard; that's why teams win in the tournament. They step up and make plays, and he made a lot of plays."

"He made all the shots," said Rush, who led KU with 18 points. "He didn't miss none."

Not in the final 23 minutes of the game he didn't. Afflalo made eight straight shots, his last bucket coming on a blow-by drive around Rush for a layup and a 53-45 advantage. Afflalo didn't miss a shot until he clanked the back end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line with 1:13 to play.

"The good thing about it was that this was the most important game. … Arron just stepped up," said point guard Darren Collison, who sank his own crucial buzzer-beating three that helped keep Kansas at arm's length at 58-50. "But my thing is, everybody was talking about how his shooting was off, but his defense has been consistent all along. That's what's helping us win games."

"It was very important," Shipp said of Afflalo's breakthrough. "But we expect it from Arron. He's been our leader all year. We expect him to score big in these types of games."

Offensively, it looked like it would be more of the same for Afflalo after he missed five of his first seven attempts, two of them three-pointers blocked by Rush. But Afflalo's confidence grew after closing the first half with a baseline jumper, a finger-roll layup and a drive-and-kick assist to Josh Shipp to beat the halftime buzzer for a 35-31 advantage.

"What I'm so happy about is the win," Afflalo said. "Each year, you become more of a leader, more of a focal point for your team. Obviously, you're going to make plays throughout the season and in important games like today, which is very fortunate for myself. But I'm just so happy because I'm more part of a team each year because I'm older and I appreciate it a little bit more.

"I'm just out there playing the game," he added. "I'm watching the time tick away, trying to put points on the board and trying to make stops."

Thanks to Afflalo's clutch shooting, though, UCLA's season hasn't hit 0:00.