Iowa St. 80, UCLA 56

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Iowa State used its quickness and defense to ground UCLA's high-flying offense, then put the Bruins away with steady shooting and strong inside play. <br><br>Marcus Fizer,

Thursday, March 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Iowa State used its quickness and defense to ground UCLA's high-flying offense, then put the Bruins away with steady shooting and strong inside play.

Marcus Fizer, Stevie Johnson and Michael Nurse had 16 points each as the second-seeded Cyclones beat the sixth-seeded Bruins 80-56 on Thursday night in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

Jamaal Tinsley added 14 points to help the Cyclones (32-4) extend their winning streak to 10 games and advance to the final eight for the first time.

Iowa State will face top-seeded Michigan State on Saturday. The Spartans beat Syracuse 75-58.

UCLA's acrobatic offense, which produced 14 alley-oop baskets in a 35-point victory over Maryland in the second round, never got started against the Cyclones.

Every time the Bruins attempted an alley-oop, Fizer or Johnson or someone else was there to intercept it or at least knock it down. And every time the Cyclones missed a shot, they got at least two defenders back, stopping the Bruins from getting many fast-break points.

The Bruins (21-11) simply couldn't hit their shots. After shooting 62.5 percent against Maryland, the Bruins were held to 33.9 percent Thursday night.

Jaron Rush, who had directed UCLA's eight-game winning streak after returning from a 24-game-NCAA suspension, was held to a season-low six points, going 0-of-5 from 3-point range.

The Cyclones lost in their previous two games in the final 16, falling to North Carolina State in 1986 and losing in overtime to UCLA in 1997. The Cyclones were 0-6 against the Bruins before Thursday night.

This time, it was all Cyclones. With Iowa State leading 18-16 midway through the first half, the Cyclones used a 9-2 run to take control.

Fizer and Tinsley each had nine rebounds and the smaller Cyclones had a 43-34 rebounding edge. Tinsley added 11 assists.

Jerome Moiso was the only Bruins player in double figures with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The loss ends the roller-coaster season for UCLA, which saw the sixth-seeded Bruins go from an 8-2 start to being booed at home while losing six of seven, to winning game after game to keep their slim NCAA tournament bid hopes alive. It also knocks the final Pac-10 team out of the tourney.