If this is goodbye, it’s tough way to go out

SAN ANTONIO -- Kevin Love’s Final Four wasn’t played to a Beach Boys soundtrack. It was Rolling Stones all the way.

It was “Satisfaction.” As in, I can’t get no.

Who knew the highlight of Love’s Final Four would be the Friday shoot-around?

The crowd roared when Love made a full-court shot, and it never got any better than that for the freshman.

In what might be his first and last Final Four, Love was leaned on, denied, double-teamed and crowded by a Memphis defense led by Joey Dorsey.

At 6 feet 9 and 265 pounds, Dorsey is one of the few players who can hang with the 6-10, 271-pound UCLA freshman.

Love is 19. Dorsey is 24.

This time, the old man won.

“They just really didn’t allow me to get the ball,” said Love, who was held to 12 points and nine rebounds.

It was one time the temperamental, impulsive Dorsey didn’t let his instincts get the best of him.

“I kept saying, ‘This is my chance to redeem myself, going against another freshman after what happened against Ohio State with me and Oden,’ ” Dorsey said. “But my coaches told me, ‘Just go play.’ ”

Dorsey was talking about Greg Oden, the Ohio State freshman and future No. 1 draft pick Dorsey called “overrated” before a regional final last season.

Oden had a 17-point, nine-rebound game and Dorsey had zero points and three rebounds.

He had zero points against Love, too, but look at the rebounds.

“That’s their man out there. He had 15 rebounds in 27 minutes,” Love said. “I felt like I did a good job on him defensively, along with the rest of the team. But you know, he just kept getting to balls, had a couple big blocks, just played a pretty good game for playing only 27 minutes.”

Chris Douglas-Roberts, the 6-7 guard who led Memphis to its 78-63 victory with 28 points and a resounding dunk off a pass on a backdoor cut, applauded Dorsey.

“No points, but 15 rebounds. He’s a defensive monster,” he said.

The Tigers’ defense on Love was hardly the only problem for the Bruins’ offense.

Start out front with point guard Darren Collison, who struggled to get into the lane against the defense of 6-foot-6 Antonio Anderson.

“At times they doubled me, looking to keep me from penetrating. That’s what I do,” Collison said.

He was the second consecutive point guard whose draft stock dropped by playing Memphis. The Tigers did a number on Texas guard D.J. Augustin too.

The 6-foot Collison scored two points on one-for-nine shooting and fouled out with four assists and five turnovers against Anderson.

“He kind of gets overlooked. What he does is always guard the other team’s best player,” Memphis Coach John Calipari said. “He can play their ‘two,’ ‘three,’ ‘four,’ ‘one.’ He plays everybody.”

Memphis advanced to the title game Monday against Kansas, and did it with its Achilles heel looking a lot better.

The team that couldn’t make free throws, entering the game shooting 60.7%, made 20 of 23.

“Strong-minded players make free throws,” Calipari said. “As you notice, you put the ball in the hands of your best free-throw shooters.”

Only Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, the dazzling freshman who had 25 points and nine rebounds and easily cemented his spot as the top NBA point guard prospect, went to the line for the Tigers.

In the UCLA locker room, Collison was glum.

“Defensively, that’s what it was, their length and athleticism played a part,” he said.

“Just to be here three times and get knocked out three times, it’s devastating to us.”

Asked if disappointment could change his anticipated decision to turn pro after this season, Collison said, “I don’t know.”

Love, across the locker room, was getting the same questions.

“To be completely honest, I’m still a UCLA Bruin,” he said. “I’ll be in class Monday. I’ll be weighing a lot of opportunities.”

The UCLA coaches have figured they’re both probably gone.

But cue up the Beach Boys tunes one more time for Love, the nephew of Beach Boys singer Mike Love.

Be true to your school?

Wouldn’t it be nice.

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com