Bruins’ Run Is Shorter, Sweeter

They are two teams in the express lane, heading for Oakland on a collision course that will mean journey’s end for one. It has been a steady trip for both, no stops, no stalls, no detours.

Gonzaga (29-3) and UCLA (29-6) will meet at the Arena in Oakland onThursday in a regional semifinal featuring the two longest winning streaks in the NCAA tournament.

The Bulldogs have won 20 straight, the Bruins nine in a row.

But although Gonzaga can boast of more than double the number of wins in its run, it is UCLA that has become the darling of the experts, casual fans and seemingly even those who fill out their brackets based on astrology and uniform colors. The Bruins are the “in” pick to bump one of the top-seeded teams from the Final Four.

It’s partly because of the nature of the two streaks.

With the exception of an overtime win over California and a three-point victory over Alabama in a second-round NCAA tournament game Saturday, UCLA has breezed through its last nine games with a solid formula: airtight defense that has limited all nine opponents to 60 or fewer points and an opportunistic offense that has been spread around the floor, no longer primarily featuring guards Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo.

Gonzaga, on the other hand, has often struggled during the streak, requiring everything from a buzzer-beater to a missed layup to a replay to keep it going.

For example:

* Against San Diego, Gonzaga got a three-pointer from Erroll Knight with eight seconds left to win, 64-63.

* Against St. Mary’s, Gonzaga won on a free throw from Sean Mallon after it initially appeared regulation time had expired with the scored tied. After viewing a replay, the officials put 0.3 seconds back on the clock and Mallon’s free throw gave the Bulldogs a 62-61 victory.

* Against Stanford, Gonzaga got 12 points from Adam Morrison in the last three minutes to win, 80-76.

* Against San Francisco, Gonzaga, with one second remaining, got a three-pointer from Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes for a 75-72 triumph.

* Against San Diego in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament, Gonzaga had to go into overtime to win, 96-92.

* Against Loyola Marymount in the WCC tournament championship game, the Lions’ Chris Ayer missed a layup at the final buzzer to enable Gonzaga to hold on for a 68-67 win.

While the Bruins, primarily against Pacific 10 Conference teams, have won by an average of 18.3 points in their streak, the Bulldogs’ average margin of victory, primarily against WCC teams, is 9.4 points.

“This team has been wrongly criticized for winning games,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said. “We dang near won them all. ... We might not blow anybody out, but there’s something to be said for winning games. I think that shows the character of this team. ... If they could only have one quality, I would take that they know how to win.”

One man who’s qualified to compare UCLA and Gonzaga is Memphis Coach John Calipari, whose team played, and beat, both the Bruins and Bulldogs.

“It’s going to be a great game,” Calipari said. “Morrison -- stars gotta be stars. With UCLA, Afflalo is going to have to make some shots. UCLA defends a little bit better than Gonzaga, only because they’re more geared to that. ...

“I’m anxious to see if Gonzaga’s big guy [6-foot-9, 269-pound J.P. Batista] can do some damage in there. ... We had a way of playing those other guys, but [with] Batista it was, what do you do? Because if you leave him to trap and he throws balls out, every one of those guys can make shots.”

Two streaks. Two styles. But Thursday, only one winner.

Times staff writers Robyn Norwood and J.A. Adande contributed to this report.