At the close of his postgame interview after Thursday's regional semifinal win over Western Kentucky, UCLA head coach Ben Howland was asked about the regional final matchup with third-seeded Xavier (transcript from ASAPsports.com):

(I was wondering if you had a chance at all to see much of the first game and what you think of the matchup against Xavier.)

"I have had no chance to see Xavier. I had my two best assistants being able to scout games, one with West Virginia, one with Xavier. Donny Daniels has them. Now it will be go home, digest them. This is kind of typical of a Pac-10 weekend now where you got to get it all done in one day and that's hard, especially since we have to come back here and spend an hour and a half with you guys. It makes it even more difficult.
"But we'll do our best. I know Sean Miller because he is a graduate of Pitt University. I knew his father when he was the head coach at Pitt out at the high school Blackhawk, I think it's called. And Sean is a great guy. We have a mutual friend who we're both very close to, the trainer — the current trainer at Pitt is a guy named Tony Salesi who is one of my best friends in the world.
"It was funny, the other night — I can't remember when it was. I think it was Sunday — I called Tony and someone called me and I called him back and Sean was just on the phone with him. So Sean was a great point guard at the University of Pittsburgh. He's been and had worked for some great coaches along the way. They're very, very well-coached. I recruited Drew Lavender. He visited Pitt when I was head coach there. I know how good he is.
"They're very, very sound. They play great man-to-man defense. We've got our hands full. We understand that."