UCLA Basketball: Rise of the Bruins in 2021 NCAA Tournament

UCLA to play in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament

Looking back, the Bruins overcame what initially was looked at as a very promising season. Daishen Nix, the No. 1-ranked point guard prospect in the country and a 5 star rated player who had committed to UCLA in August of 2019, decided to go to the NBA G League in late April of 2020.

Then when the season started, the second-leading scorer for UCLA and senior guard Chris Smith was lost for the season due to a knee injury he suffered in a game against Utah on New Year’s Eve. Finally, junior forward Jalen Hill has not played for the Bruins since January 30th. However, UCLA is still a talented team and they find themselves now playing in the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

The only common opponent that UCLA and Alabama played against is Stanford. Ironically, the Cardinals who did not qualify for post-season play beat both the Crimson Tide and the Bruins. Stanford defeated Alabama in the Camping World Maui Invitational by a final score of 82-64. UCLA lost by one point at Stanford and the two teams have not played any other common opponents.

Alabama won the SEC regular-season title and the conference tournament championship as well. The Crimson Tide has won six straight games with their last loss occurring on Feb. 25 when they lost by double digits on the road to Arkansas.

As mentioned earlier, UCLA lost their last four games prior to the NCAA tournament and finished in 4th place in the Pac-12. However, the Bruins have won three games in the NCAA tournament and Alabama has won two defeating Iona and Maryland to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

The Crimson tide is the slight favorite entering this game but UCLA has proven that they should be taken seriously and the Bruins can win this game and advance to the Elite Eight. The game between the two schools should be a good game and fun to watch.