Location -- Houston, Texas.

Leading scorer -- Dave Robisch, 6-foot-10 senior forward, 19.2 ppg.

Final record -- 27-3.

Led by the one-two scoring punch of Robisch and junior guard Bud Stallworth (16.9), KU blew through the regular season at 25-1 while winning the Big Eight and the conference holiday tournament.

Playing in Wichita's Henry Levitt Arena at the Midwest Regional, the Jayhawks had to hang on down the stretch to beat Houston, 78-77. Robisch scored the last of his game-high 29 points with 34 seconds to give the Jayhawks a 78-73 lead.

With a 73-71 victory against Drake in the regional final, KU earned a trip to the Houston Astrodome for the Final Four.

That was the good news. The bad news was that KU would be facing UCLA, which entered with an identical record but one key advantage -- the Bruins had won four consecutive NCAA titles.

During a press conference before the national semifinal, KU coach Ted Owens was opening his mail when he came across an interesting letter.

"Somebody sent a prayer," he said. "Maybe that's what we need."

Maybe so, because KU shot only 32.4 percent and was outrebounded 42-29 as the Bruins rolled toward their fifth straight national title.

In winning its 27th straight tournament game, UCLA withstood a 17-point performance by Robisch. Sidney Wicks scored a game-high 21 points for the Bruins, including 11 free throws.

"They hurt us most at the free-throw line," Owens said. "But we don't have any excuses or alibis. UCLA made the most of its opportunities and we didn't."