Photo by Joe Imel/Daily News Western Kentucky’s Tyrone Brazelton (center) is trapped Thursday by a pair of UCLA defenders during the Hilltoppers’ 88-78 loss to the Bruins in the West Region semifinals of the NCAA Tournament at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix. Click here to see more photos from the WKU-UCLA game.

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PHOENIX — Some portrayed 12th-seeded Western Kentucky as underdog David against Goliath-like UCLA on Thursday.

Instead, the Hilltoppers preferred the role of Lazarus.

WKU’s season ended in an 88-78 loss to the top-seeded Bruins in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, but not without a comeback of near-biblical proportions at the U.S. Airways Center.

The Hilltoppers cut a 21-point halftime deficit down to four with just under seven minutes remaining before UCLA held off WKU’s charge to advance to Saturday’s West Region final against No. 3 Xavier.

Click here to see a photo show of the WKU-UCLA game.

“The last 20 minutes was a great example of what this team is all about,” WKU coach Darrin Horn said. “Their toughness, and a bunch of different guys stepping up and pouring their guts out.”

A memorable postseason for the Hilltoppers (29-7), which included their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1993 and began with Ty Rogers’ game-winning 3-pointer against Drake, had one more dose of drama. But only after an ugly start for the Hilltoppers.

“We had nothing to lose,” WKU point guard Tyrone Brazelton said. “We were down 21 and the fight came out of us.”

Brazelton helped key the Hilltoppers’ rally with a game-high 31 points - including 25 in the second - but WKU’s worst offensive half of the season was too much to overcome.

WKU shot only 18.8 percent in the first half, went without a field goal for more than eight minutes and saw the Bruins outscore WKU 28-7 over the final 12 minutes for a 41-20 halftime lead.

It was WKU’s lowest-scoring half of the year and the Hilltoppers’ biggest deficit of the season.

“Shots just weren’t falling, it was one of those nights,” said WKU guard Courtney Lee, who was 7-of-29 from the field.

The Hilltoppers’ troubles also came against one of basketball’s stingiest defenses. UCLA had been holding teams to 58 points a game. WKU shot 34.7 percent.

“Overall, our defense, especially in the first half, was incredible,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.

Before Thursday’s contest, UCLA freshman phenom center Kevin Love remarked that the Hilltoppers hadn’t faced a center like him.

Twenty-nine points and 14 rebounds later, Love was proved right.

Love and UCLA outrebounded WKU 51-36. Reserve forward James Keefe had a career-high 18 points and 12 rebounds while the Bruins shot 50 percent from the field.

“Obviously Love is a terrific player, but he was getting a lot of those way too easy because we didn’t have pressure on the ball the way we normally do,” Horn said. “We have played good post defense all year long against good teams, mainly because we’ve had good pressure and not made the passes too easy. They were just throwing it inside way too much.”

WKU’s comeback came when its pressure started frustrating the Bruins. The Hilltoppers forced 19 turnovers - a season-high for the Bruins - and seven of the turnovers came during a 21-7 second-half run.

“The second half we had to press,” Brazelton said. “We were so far down in a hole, we had to.”

Almost shockingly, WKU got within 63-59 on two Courtney Lee free throws with 5:36 remaining.

Brazelton had 12 straight points during the run.

“We just kept believing,” Evans said. “The game wasn’t over and we had faith we could win.”

The Hilltoppers also got a bigger break because UCLA point guard Darren Collison fouled out when Lee was sent to the line.

“As he goes, his team goes,” WKU guard A.J. Slaughter said. “We definitely thought Collison was a big blow to them. We definitely thought we could make a real run.”

The Hilltoppers had a chance to get within one, but Slaughter missed a 3-pointer and UCLA scored six consecutive points, highlighted by Josh Shipp’s 3-pointer as the shot clock neared zero. Shipp had 14 points.

“Really, the sequence of the game is we’re down four and have a wide open three and it just doesn’t go down and they come back and hit one,” Horn said.

But at halftime, the Hilltoppers didn’t look like they’d be in any position to get within range of the Bruins.

It turned out the be the complete opposite of the Hilltoppers’ first two tournament games.

WKU saw second-half leads of 16 and 15 points against Drake and San Diego, respectively, disappear before it regrouped for wins.

On Thursday, the Hilltoppers did the rallying in the final chapter of a memorable season.

“I’m definitely proud,“ Lee said. “This was a special group of guys that got to the Sweet 16 and I’m glad I got to experience that.”