SAN ANTONIO - John Calipari can stop screaming now. We get it, OK? It really didn't take an NCAA-record 38th win and a Final Four victory over the most storied program in college basketball history for all of us to respect Memphis, to think the Tigers can win this thing.

But to those who considered Calipari's team the Clampetts in a Final Four full of college basketball royalty, the Tigers' 78-63 win over UCLA Saturday at the Alamodome made them feel almost as silly as the Bruins.

That's saying something. After all, Russell Westbrook's Pacific-10 defensive player of the year award looked as valuable as a CrackerJack prize after Chris Douglas-Roberts torched him for 10 of Memphis' first 22 points.

UCLA's icy NCAA shooting never warmed up with Memphis holding the Bruins to 37 percent.

The Tigers, who will face Kansas in Monday's title game, were too quick, too sure-handed, too aggressive on loose balls, too in control. Whatever the pace, Memphis was able to score.

"I walked out of the game, and I was feeling it was just the next game," Calipari said. "I told the guys before the game, 'Does anybody else feel like this is just the next game?' We played kind of like we played all year."

All year, the Tigers have fought the perception that they're just a bunch of one-on-one stars who can't shoot free throws, and built a gaudy record only because Conference USA is one step above Division II. After the game, Calipari was asked about a column in Saturday's Los Angeles Times saying UCLA-Memphis was a coaching mismatch between him and Ben Howland, coaching in his third straight Final Four.

"I don't think Ben is that bad," Calipari joked. "I respect Ben. He's a heck of a coach."

The Tigers have been laughing all season.

"The negativity has been silly the whole year," said Douglas-Roberts who had a game-high 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting. "We believe in ourselves. All that stuff, when we hear it, we laugh."

The backcourt of Derrick Rose and Douglas-Roberts not only combined for 53 points but held UCLA's Darren Collins to 1-for-9 shooting.

Joey Dorsey, Memphis' hulking center, scored zip but had a game-high 15 rebounds and held Kevin Love, the Pacific-10 player of the year, to 12 points, including one basket in the second half.

Memphis (38-1) was never out of control. Even when UCLA got back on defense, Memphis' patented slash-and-pitch offense diced the Bruins into a seven-point deficit in the first half. Douglas-Roberts scored off the break and on a jump hook 3- 1/2 minutes into the second half to make it 48-37.

"We play off each other real well," Douglas-Roberts said. "Whoever has it going has it going. We carried over from the Michigan State and Texas games. We're playing real well."

UCLA (35-4) got within 59-52 with 7:20 left but in a sequence that epitomized Memphis' season, Douglas-Roberts dunked on a back-door pass and Dorsey blocked Russell Westbrook's layup attempt, leading to a Rose layup and a 63-52 lead.

"As disappointing as this loss is, it's hard to be here three years in a row and not come away with a championship," Howland said.

"You have to give credit to Memphis State. There's a reason why they've only lost one game and they've won 38. They're a very, very good team."

A star freshman, Rose put up lefty floaters and righty scoops, often changing hands in midair, in what became an NBA audition. At one point, he caught a pass in traffic, stutter-stepped just long enough to look his defender in the eye, then sped past him for an easy but showy layup.

"Every once in a while, I go, 'Oh my,' and I kind of sit down," Calipari said. "And they usually come at inopportune times for the other team."

Rose finished with 25 points and nine rebounds and a bunch of eye-opening moves that won't show up in the final box. He also hit 11 of 12 free throws. The Tigers, who have struggled from the line, made 20 of 23 overall.

Don't look now, folks, but the program that supposedly didn't quite fit here, is one win from its first national title.

"Someone told me 38 is the most wins," Calipari said. "I didn't know. The players said, 'Is it? Is it the most wins?' I said, 'No. You've got to get to 39 to get the most wins.'"

(The Associated Press also contributed to this report.)

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