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Ohio State University and UCLA clinched the first two spots in the Final Four of the national men's college basketball tournament yesterday by winning regional titles.

Ohio State defeated Memphis 92-76 to capture the South regional championship and UCLA beat Kansas 68-55 for the West regional crown. They advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament semifinals March 31 in Atlanta.

``I'm at a loss for words,'' Ron Lewis, who led Ohio State with 22 points, said in a televised postgame news conference. ``I never thought I'd be in this position.''

The remaining Final Four spots will be determined today with title games in the Midwest and East regionals.

Defending champ Florida faces Oregon in the Midwest final in St. Louis, with the winner advancing to take on UCLA. Ohio State will meet either North Carolina or Georgetown, who battle for the East title in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

``We're going to play a great team no matter who it is,'' UCLA coach Ben Howland said in his news conference. ``We've got our hands full.''

In San Jose, California, Arron Afflalo scored 24 points as UCLA, the No. 2 seed in the West, knocked off top seed Kansas. Darren Collison added 14 for the Bruins, who'll make their second straight Final Four trip.

Since the NCAA tournament started seeding teams in 1979, all four top seeds have never reached the Final Four.

``We're disappointed,'' Kansas coach Bill Self told reporters. ``We played a very, very good team today, a team that can win it all.''

First-Half Run

The Bruins closed the first half with a 12-2 run, capped by Josh Shipp's 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 35-31 lead. UCLA (30-5) increased its advantage to 11 in the second half before Kansas pulled to within 55-50 with 5 1/2 minutes left.

Collison then hit a long 3-pointer over a defender as the shot clock expired to push the lead back to eight and Kansas (33-5) would get no closer than seven points.

``That was a huge lift,'' Afflalo said. ``A 3-pointer with two guys in his face was a beautiful thing to watch.''

In San Antonio, Mike Conley Jr. added 19 points as top- seeded Ohio State (34-3) won its 21st straight game, while Greg Oden chipped in with 17 points and nine rebounds.

``We're happy to be where we're at, but we know there's two games to go,'' Conley Jr. said in a news conference.

Jeremy Hunt scored 26 points for second-seeded Memphis (33- 4). The loss marked the second straight year the Tigers were beaten in a regional final and ended their 25-game winning streak, the nation's longest.

``That was a terrific basketball team we played,'' Memphis coach John Calipari said in his postgame news conference. ``Our hope was we could outwork or outscrap them, but we couldn't.''

Memphis used an 8-0 run to take a 56-51 lead in the second half. Ohio State later scored seven straight points to break a 64-64 tie with 5:41 left.

After Lewis hit a 3-pointer a minute later to make it 74-66, Ohio State closed the game by hitting its final 18 free-throw attempts. The Buckeyes made 35 of 41 foul shots and outscored the Tigers by 21 from the free-throw line.

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