The letters have sunk in by now at Missouri. They sit there like daggers in the heart of the bracket.

U-C-L-A.

Unless you were there in Boise, Idaho, in 1995, unless you experienced it, you couldn't possibly know the feeling this week at Missouri. There were 4.8 seconds left in the Tigers' second-round NCAA Tournament game against the Bruins. Fewer than five seconds to one of Missouri's most glorious victories.

Quin Snyder is hoping his team can find some redemption for its fans.(AP)

Top-seeded UCLA had the ball under its basket, having to go 94 feet to beat the Tigers. Tiny point guard Tyus Edney somehow weaved his way through the crowd and banked in a layup as time expired. 75-74, Bruins.

Two weeks later, UCLA was national champion. Missouri was still in a funk.

"That was a devastating loss," said Kim Anderson, a former Missouri assistant and currently a Big 12 assistant commissioner. "It's one that for three years -- I don't want to say we didn't recover -- but we didn't go to the tournament for three years. There were probably some other reasons but ..."

Tigers fans have replayed the final seconds in bars across mid-Missouri and the country. How, they still ask, could no one stop the ball when the 5-foot-10 Edney weaved his magic? Why, they still agonize, didn't 6-10 forward Derek Grimm jump with his outstretched arms to block Edney's winning layup that barely cleared Grimm's fingertips?

It still is one of the seminal moments in recent NCAA history, and one of the most haunting around Missouri.

"I've seen it 100 times since, maybe 1,000," Anderson said. "In a way you're part of history, but it's not the part of history you want to be a part of."

They probably don't know it, but the too-young-to-remember Tigers will carry with them a piece of that history when they play the Bruins in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in San Jose, Calif. Talk about reminders: The game comes seven years and two days later ... in the tournament ... in the West Region.

While chatting Monday, Anderson happened upon an e-mail from a fan announcing a Missouri watch party at a Dallas bar. "Mizzou will be looking for revenge," Anderson said quoting the e-mail, "for the Tyus Edney Incident."

"It's not going away now, buddy."

It can be argued that the Tigers never recovered, at least postseason-wise. They made the tournament only once in the next four years, changed coaches and had been trying to find themselves until recently under third-year coach Quin Snyder.

Meanwhile, UCLA clinched its fifth Sweet 16 berth in six years Sunday with a double-overtime victory over Cincinnati.

"We're supposed to win games like this," said Bruin Matt Barnes, seemingly throwing yet another dagger through time and space back to Columbia.

The Bruins can talk all they want about Steve Lavin's annual late resurrection jobs to save his job. Get with the real resurrection story. No. 12 Missouri is the lowest seeded team left in the tournament. It is trying to become the first team seeded that low to get to the Elite Eight. It is 0-6 against teams remaining in the field. It has been to the Sweet 16 once in the past 13 years.

So some sympathy please for the real underdog in this tournament. Southern Illinois is a higher seed and at least tied for its conference title. Kent State is a No. 10 and has won 20 in a row. Missouri was a sixth seed in the Big 12 Tournament for the third consecutive year and limped home to grab one of the last at-large NCAA berths.

The name on the front of the jersey says Missouri. But somewhere in the background, a light has gone on.

"Right now, this is an incredibly hungry team," Snyder said.

How hungry? Snyder has lost 15 pounds trying to reshape his team that seemed without direction in midseason. A 9-0 start and No. 2 ranking were a fraud. The Tigers simply weren't that good.

For most of the season, they weren't hungry either. Preseason Big 12 player of the year Kareem Rush fell off, still scoring 20 a game but refusing for whatever reason to take his game inside as often. Now Rush is so focused, he suffered a cut lip in the first-round game against Miami that required 20 stitches to close.

It hurts to smile, which means Rush has been hurting a lot.

"I hated to step out on the court because I knew people were critiquing me every game," Rush said. "You try not to think about it, but you're always hearing it."

After Saturday's victory over Ohio State he said: "This team is becoming something special. It's been a long, hard process. But the work that we've put in is paying off."

Sophomore forward Rickey Paulding has developed a look of the next star after Rush presumably heads to the NBA after this season. He is tied with senior Clarence Gilbert in NCAA scoring with 18 points per game.

The usually meek Travon Bryant, another sophomore, has started pointing his elbows instead of taking them. In two games, the 6-9, 245-pound forward has 17 rebounds. Throw in center Arthur Johnson, and Missouri can come at you with 725 pounds of muscle from the front line.

All this while Rush has been shooting 32 percent.

"These guys are dangerous because they're unconscious," Ohio State guard Brian Brown said after Saturday's second-round loss. "They shoot the ball whenever they feel like it."

That has been the thumbnail description of Missouri all season. They loved to shoot and hated to defend. And when the shots weren't falling, it got ugly.

But Snyder has gotten through to guys like Bryant, who lost his starting job late in the season. Gilbert, a wild-eyed shooter for three previous seasons, has had to take over as point guard when sophomore Wesley Stokes' game faltered.

Snyder still looks like the boy king at age 35. He admits that in his third year, he is still learning. Unrealistic fans expected a championship by this time. They reportedly have left derogatory notes on his windshield and harassed his wife in public.

A victory over UCLA might make those fools forget everything, even as far back as 1995.