PHOENIX – Some of the Western players were drawing on a whiteboard in the locker room. It was pretty abstract what they were drawing, maybe something of an alien-like basketball player.

Many fans and experts alike probably didn’t have the 12th-seeded Western drawn in at this point in their bracket.

Nonetheless, the Toppers seem to be sticking to the same mantra that got Western to their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1993.

The Toppers are staying loose before they take the court at 8:40 tonight in Phoenix at the U.S. Airways Center.

Like during their shootaround before their opening round game in Tampa, Fla., players took time to cut loose and have an impromptu dunk contest in the last five minutes.

And just in case it comes to a last-second shot again, players took shots from half-court.

“We really want to enjoy it and have fun with it,” coach Darrin Horn said. “We’ve really tried to do that, whether it’s been the open practices that we’ve had or any of those kind of things, just being on the trip, being together, trying to make sure we are enjoying the experience. That being said, we’ve had a lot of success in preparing and getting ready for the game the way that we do. So we’ve tried to keep that as normal as possible.”

While Western will try to keep the things the same in terms of routines and preparation, Horn said they will see a player like they haven’t seen all year in UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love. Love is averaging 17.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Horn said, adding that what’s most impressive are the numbers he has put up and the way he has played the so consistently all year as a freshman. “That’s really tough to do.”

Love’s guard counterpart, UCLA guard Darren Collison, scored 21 points in the Bruins’ second-round win over Texas A&M and is averaging 15.3 points per game this season.

“Anytime we get to play against a player of his caliber, you look at it as an opportunity,” senior guard Tyrone Brazelton said. “At the same time, I can’t get caught up in individual battles.”

Senior guard Ty Rogers said the key to slowing both Collison and Love down starts with Western’s pressure on the perimeter.

“I think our bigs are going to have to be physical with them,” Rogers said. “And it puts a lot of pressure on us at the perimeter spots to just make it harder to get him the ball.”

Horn has a pretty simple wish for how the Toppers can stop Love.

“We’re hoping he gets sick is the main thing we’re looking for,” Horn said.

Horn also believes that a strong senior class could be the key to success today.

“That experience and that togetherness, and that understanding of a system and that trust, and all those things you build over a period of time,” he said. “I think they can be a big difference-maker for you.

Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@chherald.com.