It's been 19 years since Arron Affalo sent UCLA to the Final Four

It’s been a few years since the last time the UCLA Bruins men’s team appeared in the Final Four. Mick Cronin led the team to a national semifinal game in his second season with UCLA back in 2021, which was the program’s last trip to the Final Four.

Bruin fans can take a trip down memory lane, with Tuesday marking the 19 year anniversary of UCLA defeating the Kansas Jayhawks and advancing to the Final Four, which was the second of three-straight Final Four trips for the Bruins with head coach Ben Howland in the late 2000s. 

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UCLA was led by Los Angeles native Arron Affalo, who scored a game-high 24 points on 10-15 shooting. The guard out of Compton averaged 16.9 points per game with UCLA as a junior, earning All-American honors before heading to the NBA.

🔥 24 PTS
🔥 10-15 FG#OTD in 2007, Arron Afflalo led @UCLAMBB past Kansas and to the Final Four.#MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/ATOvqHtdBN

— UCLA on BTN (@UCLAOnBTN) March 24, 2026

The 2006-2007 Bruins team was a fun one, with Affalo, Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and freshmen Russell Westbrook all appearing in the Elite Eight game for UCLA. The Kansas team that the Bruins beat weren’t shabby either. Solid NBA role players Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur helped lead the No. 1 seed Jayhawks.

UCLA’s season wouldn’t end with a national title though, as the Florida Gators beating the Bruins 76-66 in the national semifinal game.

It’s been less than two decades since Affalo’s big game but UCLA appearing in three-straight Final Fours feels like a long time ago. Since the 2007 win over Kansas in the Elite Eight, the Bruins have appeared in just two Final Fours.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: It's been 19 years since Arron Affalo shot UCLA to the Final Four

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