Mbah a Moute comes up big for UCLA

INDIANAPOLIS — A big guy did indeed take over the LSU-UCLA game.

No, not that one.

Freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (pronounced Luke Ree-SHARD Umbah-a-MOO-teh) had 17 points and nine rebounds while dominating Glen "Big Baby" Davis in UCLA's 59-45 semifinal victory over LSU on Saturday night, keeping the Bruins in contention for a record 12th NCAA title.

"I don't know how much better I can be in 48 hours," Mbah a Moute said. "All I know is every time I step on the court, I give my best."

UCLA will play Florida on Monday night for a chance to hang the only kind of banner the school allows in Pauley Pavilion — a national championship. That hasn't happened since 1995, the last time the Bruins reached the title game.

"It's a lot of expectations," fifth-year senior Cedric Bozeman said. "But that's why you come to UCLA, to play for that prestige. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to etch our name into that history."

The prince from Cameroon with the hard-to-pronounce name stunned the Tigers with back-to-back monster dunks to open the second half, extending UCLA's lead to 43-24. Mbah a Moute finished 5 of 9 from the floor and was 7 of 8 from the line.

"I told him in the beginning of the year how good he was going to be," point guard Jordan Farmar said. "He doesn't even know that. That's the scary part. He has no clue. Anytime you focus on trying your best and not worrying about the result or thinking of failure, good things happen."

Mbah a Moute's 7-foot wingspan affected shots and his defense disrupted Davis, who spent much of the game gasping for air against the speedier Bruins.

"He's relentless on the boards and he has a high level of potential," Davis said.

At times, Mbah a Moute helped Lorenzo Mata and Ryan Hollins in defending Davis, the 6-foot-9, 310-pound behemoth who finished with 14 points — most after the game got out of hand.

Alfred Aboya, Mbah a Moute's countryman and fellow freshman, asserted himself early, too, swatting Darrel Mitchell's shot into the stands as Mitchell fell down.

"They came out and just punched us," Davis said. "We were kind of shocked. We just couldn't get up."

UCLA's band waved mini versions of Cameroon's green, yellow and red flag whenever Mbah a Moute stepped to the line. His father is a chief of a rural village near the capital of Yaounde, which makes Mbah a Moute and his siblings royal princes and princesses.

"It's good to have support like that," Aboya said. "Knowing you're far from home, it's good to have people cheering for you."