By RICHARD CROOME

Eagle Staff Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- If fans or media want to compare Saturday's second round NCAA Tournament game between UCLA and Texas A&M to last year's clash between the then-top 10 teams, they can do so without the endorsement of first-year A&M coach Mark Turgeon.

Though the schools and venue are the same, Turgeon points out that the ingredients mixing in this year's Bruins-Aggies pot are a bit different from those that went into UCLA's 65-62 victory last season at the Honda Center.

"Kevin Love makes a little difference on their team, and [point guard Darren] Collison is stepping up," Turgeon said. "We're completely different now without Acie Law IV."

Josh Carter agrees, saying that last year's experience against UCLA (32-3) should have little effect on the game once play starts.

"I've looked at film from UCLA this year," Carter said. "They're a new team. We're a new team, so last year is kind of out the window. We have to look at what they do now."

While each team lost an NBA first-round draft pick -- Law from A&M and Arron Affalo from UCLA -- off last year's teams, the biggest difference in this matchup promises to be the 6-foot-10, 271-pound Love, who was the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a freshman.

Love scored 20 points and had nine rebounds in UCLA's 70-29 rout of Mississippi Valley State in the first round. He averages 17 points and 10.6 rebounds a game.

"You've just got to love watching him play," Turgeon said. "He's got the full package. He can shoot the 3. He can post up. He can pass. He can dribble it. He's a great screener and a great offensive rebounder."

But what the Parade Magazine Player of the Year does best is pass, says Turgeon, especially the outlet pass off a defensive rebound.

"You haven't seen that in years," Turgeon said. "And what makes him even better is they put him with Collison together on those ball screens, and you have a heck of point guard and a heck of a big man."

Love has dealt with back spasms since the second round of the Pac-10 tournament but is expected to play Saturday.

Collison has come back from an injury earlier this season to average 14.9 points and 3.9 assists per game. The Aggies may best remember Collison for hitting a 3-pointer right before the half and then opening the second half with another 3 to give the Bruins some separation from A&M in last season's game.

Collison said the Aggies (25-10) will probably use last season's game as motivation, adding that he thought both teams easily could've won.

"The difference now is we have Kevin, so I think it's going to be a lot easier," Collison said.

UCLA coach Ben Howland remembers much more than Collison's 3s from last season's matchup.

"That was the most physical game we played," Howland said. "I see that in them again this year. The good thing about it was we showed our players that's the way they played against us a year ago, so they could get the sense again of how big and strong and tough they are."

A&M has played some of its best basketball of late, losing only to Kansas twice in its last six games.

Carter found his shot against Moutain West champion BYU in the Aggies' tourney-opening 67-62 victory Thursday, hitting six 3-pointers for a career-high 26 points. Joseph Jones had his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Donald Sloan benefited from Carter's 10-of-16 shooting, getting six assists while having only one turnover. He also had eight points, six of which came in the paint, which opened up after Carter stretched the defense.

"He's one of the top shooters in the nation I think and a lot of games it hasn't fell for him," Sloan said. "He's shooting it the same way with the same confidence he's just kind of itching for it to go in and yesterday he broke the ice a little bit and what a perfect time to do it.

"We've been waiting for it, if anybody else hasn't, I have." Sloan said. "It feels good to see him open, give it to him and know he's going to make it."

Even though UCLA doubles the post, much like BYU did on Thursday, Turgeon doesn't expect Carter to get as many open looks against the Bruins. He's hoping for a few, and then let the Aggie defense take care of the rest.

Carter, who only had three points the last time the two teams met, will have a tougher time with Russell Westbrook, the Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year, shadowing him.

"He's not going to get those looks [today]," Turgeon said. "We know UCLA is going to double [the post] too, they just do it a little bit better than BYU. Some other guys are going to have to step up."

Turgeon said the first one to 50 points might win with the type of defense both teams play, which is one aspect that is definitely similar to last season's contest.

NOTES -- The winner of the UCLA-A&M game will play the winner of Western Kentucky-San Diego in Phoenix on Thursday. Western Kentucky upset fifth-seeded Drake and San Diego upended No. 4 seed Connecticut. ... The Big 12 had the only two upsets (according to seeding) in the opening round, with A&M beating BYU 67-62 and No. 11 seed Kansas State topping No. 6 seed Southern California 80-67. The Big 12 went 5-1 in the opening round, with Baylor taking the only loss.

• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

NO. 9 TEXAS A&M VS. NO. 1 UCLA

WHEN/WHERE: 8:15 p.m. Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

RECORDS: A&M (25-10), UCLA (32-3)

TV/RADIO: KBTX, Ch. 5/WTAW, 1620 AM

TEXAS A&M-UCLA LINEUPS

NO. 9 TEXAS A&M (25-10)

NO. NAME POS HT WT CLASS PPG RPG

22 Dominique Kirk G 6-4 185 Sr. 8.6 *3.5

12 Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 So. 9.4 4.1

23 Josh Carter F 6-7 200 Jr. 12.3 4.0

30 Joseph Jones F 6-9 255 Sr. 10.4 5.3

0 Bryan Davis F 6-9 250 So. 8.7 5.0

NO. 1 UCLA (32-3)

NO. NAME POS HT WT CLASS PPG RPG

2 Darren Collison G 6-1 165 Jr. 14.9 *3.9

0 Russell Westbrook G 6-3 187 So. 12.5 *4.4

3 Josh Shipp F 6-5 220 Jr. 12.8 3.2

13 James Keefe F 6-8 225 So. 2.1 2.4

42 Kevin Love C 6-10 260 Fr. 17.2 10.6

*assists per game