SAN DIEGO - Geography has never been a strong suit of U.C.L.A. basketball players. Before one N.C.A.A. tournament game against Penn State, a Bruin said he thought the Nittany Lions played in the Ivy League. Before U.C.L.A. opened the 1994 tournament against Tulsa - with a 112-102 loss - another Bruin said he did not know the university was in Oklahoma.
Twenty years later, the Bruins drew Tulsa again - and this time they proved they had learned not only their geography but some history, too. They avoided another stunner by the Golden Hurricanes, pulling away in the second half Friday night for a 76-59 victory in the South Region.
U.C.L.A. has not advanced past the first weekend of the tournament since 2008, the last of three consecutive Final Four appearances. But all that stands between the fourth-seeded Bruins, who knocked off Arizona to win the Pacific-12 Conference tournament, and a trip to the Round of 16 is 12th-seeded Stephen F. Austin, which shocked Virginia Commonwealth earlier Friday.
Norman Powell, playing in his hometown, ended the game emphatically for U.C.L.A. with a slam dunk in the final minute that delighted the large contingent of fans who had made the two-hour drive.
But U.C.L.A.'s top performer was Jordan Adams, who had 21 points, 8 rebounds (5 on offense) and 4 assists. Adams may also be the best defensive player on a team that has just recently started to play well at that end.
Tulsa narrowed its deficit to 35-32 early in the second half, but Adams hit a 3-pointer that began a 10-0 U.C.L.A. run, giving the Bruins a working margin the rest of the way. Tulsa cut the gap to 5 on a pair of occasions. But after DeAndre Wright sliced U.C.L.A's lead to 59-54 with less than five minutes remaining, Tulsa could manage only two more baskets.
It prevented the Golden Hurricanes from teaching the Bruins any more lessons, about basketball or otherwise.
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