Western Kentucky has had its eye on UCLA

And UCLA junior Darren Collison.

A point guard himself, Brazelton said he wanted to learn as much as he could about how to lead a team, run an offense, orchestrate a defense.

"UCLA's a good team, but overall I wanted to see how he ran his team," Brazelton said. "I wanted to see more about his leadership, the way he uses ball screens, the way he attacks an offensive player. I think it helped me."

Brazelton will find out tonight just how much the tapes helped when his 12th-seeded Hilltoppers (29-6) face top-seeded UCLA (33-3) in an NCAA West Regional semifinal at U.S. Airways Arena at about 6:40 p.m.

As UCLA freshman center Kevin Love noted Wednesday afternoon, no 12th-seeded team has ever beaten a top-seeded team. This is UCLA's 31st appearance in the Sweet 16. It is Western Kentucky's third.

"History's on their side, not on our side," Hilltoppers guard Ty Rogers said. "But the game isn't played about history. We've got some stuff on our side too."

Collison quickly pointed out one thing Western Kentucky has. "Seniors, lots of seniors. That speaks for itself," he said. "Seniors know how to play very well. This is it for their whole careers.

"They don't get rattled, they give it their best shot."

Western Kentucky's senior starters are guards -- Brazelton, Rogers and Courtney Lee.

Lee is the scorer, strong-armed, big-shouldered and averaging 20.5 points a game. UCLA Coach Ben Howland and Collison predicted Lee will play in the NBA.

"He scores really effectively," Collison said. "He helps set their tempo."

The Hilltoppers' tempo is usually up.

Bruins forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said what he had learned so far about the Hilltoppers:

"They are aggressive playing defense. They pressure the ball and try to take you out of your comfort zone. On offense, they have many weapons. Their guards are good, they run good sets. But I think we have the talent and athletes to play up-tempo too. Most of our offense is created by our defense, but we can play fast."

Whether UCLA can sustain a fast tempo will partly be a result of how Mbah a Moute's sprained left ankle holds up. After last Saturday's 51-49 victory over Texas A&M -- Mbah a Moute's first game after sitting out two -- the ankle swelled so severely he ended up wearing a walking boot again