Derrick Williams

He jumped on a teammate's shoulder, faked a shot, danced through a pretend dribble, squealed and pointed to the sky. And this was in a hallway after the game. On an NCAA tournament stage ransacked by the usual March mayhem, nobody could stop the goofy, gifted Kemba Walker. Not San Diego State, not the shot clock, not the rule book, not a Honda Center filled with haters, and not even time itself, the University of Connecticut's junior guard still playing an imaginary game long after his team had defeated the Aztecs, 74-67, Thursday in the West Regional semifinals.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have played so well since the All-Star break, they've given fans little to fret about. ? How about this: Are the Lakers peaking too soon? ? Unfortunately for Elgin Baylor , his age-discrimination case against Donald Sterling and the Clippers sounds flimsier than his record as the club's longtime general manager.? The Lakers look hungry -- and that could be bad news for rivals Before suffering an ankle injury this week, Tim Duncan sat out a recent game and was listed on the injury report as " trop vieux " ?

The Lakers tried and failed to lure Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski away from Durham, N.C., in 2004. On Wednesday, during a news conference leading up to the NCAA West Regional at Honda Center, Krzyzewski, 64, again reiterated his love for Duke and said he's not interested in leaving. However, he did say that of the three times he almost left to coach in the NBA, the Lakers' offer was the one he took most seriously. "They were great with me," he said. "I could not give up what I've got, what I have at Duke.

The La Mirada High gymnasium would be closed for the night, but Derrick Williams didn't let that stop him. Wedging a bottle cap in the doorjamb, he found, worked wonders. So he played on, for hours ? sometimes with friends, sometimes alone, often with a coach who drilled him both for conditioning and on the finer points of the game. Once in a while he'd get caught and scolded, but that didn't deter him. "Small price to pay," says Charlie Torres, an assistant coach for the high school who usually came along.

East Regional No. 2 North Carolina (27-7) vs. No. 7 Washington (24-10), 9:15 a.m., Charlotte, N.C., Channel 2: Expect a frenetic, up-tempo game. Washington needs its big men, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Aziz N'Diaye, to be physical and make some plays on defense. North Carolina has played defense in fits and starts of late, and that can't happen against the Huskies. No. 1 Ohio State (33-2) vs. No. 8 George Mason (27-6), 2:15 p.m., Cleveland, Channel 2: If George Mason is hot from beyond the arc, this will be an interesting game.

The postgame media session might have proved more irksome than any challenge Arizona faced on the court Thursday. After the top-seeded Wildcats pulled away for a 78-69 victory over ninth-seeded Oregon State in a Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament quarterfinal at Staples Center, they were confronted by a series of rapid-fire questions about USC, their next opponent. How would Arizona forward Derrick Williams bounce back from a season-low eight-point performance in the teams' last meeting?

Never doubt Reeves Nelson . Then again, maybe it's something UCLA fans should consider if they want the sophomore forward to repeat his inspired performance against Arizona. Nelson attributed his hounding defense against Wildcats forward Derrick Williams on Saturday to disparaging remarks made by a writer on a fan website, calling him out by name after the Bruins' 71-49 victory. "If someone says I can't do something, I'm going to try and prove them wrong," Nelson said Tuesday.

UCLA next vs. Arizona, Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, 1 p.m., Prime Ticket ? The final game at Pauley Pavilion before the facility closes for interior renovations could have Pacific 10 Conference title implications for the Bruins and the Wildcats. Arizona outclassed UCLA with its superior quickness and athleticism last month during an 85-74 victory in Tucson in which sophomore forward Derrick Williams scored 22 points. ? Ben Bolch

Arizona star forward Derrick Williams drew a foul, his first in Thursday night's game against USC, and glared at Trojans Coach Kevin O'Neill. "That's one with more to come," Williams told O'Neill. Call it a saucy retort to O'Neill's comments earlier in the week that Williams was "the most protected dude I've seen since Michael Jordan," an implication that Williams was coddled by referees. But Williams' prediction proved to be hubristic, as the national player of the year candidate played his worst game of the season, scoring a season-low eight points while his No. 10 Wildcats were upset by the Trojans, 65-57, before a rocking 6,857 at the Galen Center.

Derrick Williams couldn't keep his head in Thursday night's game. Perhaps images of a taunting USC Coach Kevin O'Neill danced around inside it while, chillingly enough, 2,000 grinning O'Neill bobbleheads looked on from within the crowd. Yes, O'Neill was everywhere. And Williams, Arizona's star sophomore forward, couldn't seem to shake him or his comments earlier in the week that Williams was "the most protected dude I've seen since Michael Jordan ," a claim that referees coddle Williams.