Back in November when UCLA Basketball began its season with a road defeat to San Diego State, the future did not look as bright as it did a week ago. In that loss, they were defeated by 13 points and were only scored 58 points. However, fast forward to today and you realize that UCLA will not be defined by how they began but how they will finish the season.
The Bruins’ start to their season was not all that bad when you look at the bigger picture. UCLA after falling to the Aztecs won five straight games including victories over well-known programs like California and Marquette. The Bruins only other non-conference loss would occur on a neutral court in which UCLA lost to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic. However, the Bruins made it their mission to begin Pac-12 play on a good note with their ability to win games in conference play.
UCLA prior to their non-conference play ending, the Bruins had one victory in conference play with a win over California. If you go back to the time from Dec. 31 through Jan. 21 and had watched UCLA play, you may not be surprised by their success in the NCAA tournament. In Pac-12 play during that time span, the Bruins went 8-0 and played very well especially in the 2nd half of play.
During those eight games, UCLA beat both Arizona and Arizona State on the road, defeat both Washington and Washington State, and their best victory during this eight-game winning streak came against Colorado. Then like any other team not named Gonzaga, the Bruins had some ups and downs.
UCLA’s eight-game winning streak came to an end with an overtime road defeat to Stanford in which they almost defeated the Cardinals but lost the game by only one point. Even though at the time it didn’t look like an impressive win but the Bruins won their next game with a great defensive win over Oregon State who like UCLA, would make it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. Then the Bruins would have some struggles but with adversity comes experience and lessons to be learned that would later help them persevere in the NCAA tournament.
UCLA had a brief stretch of defeats when they lost on the road to their rival UCS by 18 points but the Trojans in the NCAA tournament advanced to the Elite Eight and lost to Gonzaga so the loss in retrospect doesn’t seem that bad. The only bad loss of the season was on the road to Washington State who would end up finishing third from the last place in the Pac-12 conference.
However, Houston who is in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament lost to East Carolina who finished in the last place in the AAC so one bad loss does not define a team. However, the Bruin would be victorious in their next four games which placed them in first place in the Pac-12.
The end of the season did not go as planned for UCLA who lost their last four games of Pac-12 play but they were defeated by teams that in the NCAA tournament, one went to the round of 32, another went to the Sweet Sixteen, and the other two teams went to the Elite Eight. There is not much arguing that the Pac-12 prepared the Bruins to be successful in the NCAA tournament this year.
With the exception of UCLA’s former basketball legend and current ESPN commentator Bill Walton’s Final Four prediction of UCLA going to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, no other college basketball analysts or sports commentators predicted UCLA to advance this far in the tournament, let alone predicting that they would make the Final Four. It is almost certain now that UCLA proved that they were unfairly seeded as a No. 11 seed playing in one of the first four games of the NCAA tournament.
However, what makes the NCAA tournament so special is its unpredictability and the various upsets that occur in the tournament. Let’s now take a look at the path that the Bruins took in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Final Four.
The path to the Round of 32 for UCLA
The Bruins had a difficult first-round matchup as they played Michigan State in one of the first four games of the NCAA tournament. It was a tough first-round opponent for UCLA but Michigan State was not an overwhelming favorite to win the game by any stretch of the imagination. In the game against the Spartans, the Bruins were down by as many as 14 points late in the first half.
However, as it seemed that the Bruins were going to be defeated by a team from the Big Ten which was considered the best conference in all of the college basketball prior to the beginning of the NCAA tournament, UCLA was not about to have their season end that night.
The Bruins played much better in the second half of the game and outscored Michigan State 44 to 33 and the 2nd half surge was fuel by the dynamic play and production from Jaime Jaquez Jr. but he had some help as well from his teammates. Another Bruin sophomore and team-leading scorer Johnny Juzang played a well-rounded game in helping UCLA force overtime against the Spartans.
In overtime, the Bruins Cody Riley made some very important free throws and Jules Bernard was able to grab multiple rebounds as well to help UCLA in OT. The Bruins outscored Michigan State 9-3 in overtime to advance to the next round to play No. 6 seed BYU.
UCLA entering their matchup against the Cougars, the Bruins did not know for certain if Juzang would be able to play Saturday against BYU, as it seemed that he sprained his right ankle in the overtime contest against the Spartans. However, he did end up playing against the Cougars and playing well.
Juzang ended up playing 39 minutes which was almost the entire game and he led all scorers in the game with 27 points. Not only was he the leading scorer against BYU, but he also had five rebounds and a blocked shot as well. He was not the only player to have a good game against the Cougars. His teammates played well as they did against Michigan State as for example, Jaquez was five for seven from the field and had eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Bernard also had another strong performance as well scoring 16 points to go along with his five rebounds and one assist.
The Bruins were down by double digits to the Spartans at halftime but UCLA played a much better first half against BYU and led the Cougars by 11 at the half. The Bruins ended up maintaining their led and went on to defeat the higher ranked seed BYU in a mild upset and advance to the Round of 32.
The Journey to the Sweet Sixteen
The Bruins in their Round of 32 game were anticipating to play No. 3 seed Texas. However, the Longhorns were upset by No. 14 Abilene Christan which was one of the biggest upsets in the tournament at this junction of the tournament. The Wildcats were able to play outstanding defense and limited Texas’s top scorers during their game. Abilene Christan also located in the state of Texas, ended up defeating the Longhorns by one point.
What made it more of an upset is that the Wildcats had become a division one basketball program starting the 2013–14 season, whereas Texas is one of the top programs in the Big 12 conference. Did the Bruins catch a break and some luck?
Well, Abilene Christian previously had much success in division two basketball but when they made the jump to division one play and joined the Southland Conference, they did not have much success. That all changed in 2018 when the Wildcats made their first postseason tournament as a division one team where they lost in overtime to Drake in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Abilene Christian made their first NCAA Tournament in 2019 where they lost to Kentucky in the first round. So, playing the Wildcats should not come as an absolute shocker to the Bruins but it was indeed unexpected that they would have defeated highly seeded Texas.
UCLA however was not overconfident and the Bruins were well prepared for the Wildcats. Abilene Christian enter the game as being No. 1 in the nation in defensive turnover rate, so UCLA and their coaching staff knew they had to not commit many turnovers and take care of the basketball.
The Wildcats were confident themselves as they had defeated the Longhorns and entered their game against UCLA going 13-1 in its last 14 games. However, the Bruins were determined to not have the same fate as Texas and the Bruins head coach Mick Cronin and his teams were once again up for the challenge.
Juzang came up big again for the Bruins as he was for the second straight game, the leading scorer with 17 points as well as having three rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block shot. He was not alone in having a well-balanced performance against the Wildcats as Riley had his best game of the tournament going five for seven from the field, grabbing 12 rebounds, and he had an assist, steal, and a blocked shot. As a team, the Bruins played well and looked to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
In the game, UCLA overall played outstanding defense limiting Abilene Christian to only 47 points and their offense production, unlike what the Longhorns were unable to produce against the Wildcats, was able to score against the highly-rated Abilene Christian defense and the Bruins would go on to defeat the Wildcats by a commanding 20 points.
In their round of 32 win over Abilene Christian, UCLA became only the fifth team to go from playing in one of the First Four games of the NCAA tournament to advance all the way to the Sweet Sixteen of the tournament. The Bruins hoped to do what the VCU team of 2011 did as they were the only First Four team to make it past the regional semifinals to a magical Final Four run.
The Rams of VCU went on to lose to Bulter in the Final Four that year, so could UCLA make it past the Round of 16?
The Road to the Elite Eight
Prior to UCLA playing in their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2017, it was hard to imagine that the Bruins would be playing for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight at the beginning of the season. Looking back all the way back to the Spring of 2020, the Bruins overcame what initially was looked at as a very promising season.
Daishen Nix, the No. 1-ranked point guard prospect in the nation and a highly rated 5-star player who had committed to UCLA in August of 2019, decided to go to the NBA G League in late April of 2020. Many other programs would have been devasted by this occurring to them as having a player like Nix could transform a team and possibly take a team to the next level, especially in the NCAA tournament. However, the Bruins still had a good plan moving forward for the 2020-21 season.
When the season began, the Bruins had another obstacle that they had to overcome with losing a player. Their second-leading scorer for UCLA and senior guard Chris Smith was out for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury he suffered in a game against Utah on New Year’s Eve. Then, junior forward Jalen Hill has not played for UCLA since January 30 for personal reasons left the Bruins with one less player. However, UCLA still a talented team and found a way to play together and ended up playing Alabama in the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Entering the game against the Crimson Tide, UCLA faced not only a No. 2 seed in Alabama but a team that won the SEC regular-season title and the conference tournament championship as well. The Crimson Tide had won six straight games with their last loss occurring on Feb. 25 when they lost by double digits on the road to Arkansas prior to their game against the Bruins. UCLA in contrast had a different journey leading to this game in comparison to Alabama.
As mentioned before, the Bruins lost their last four games prior to the beginning of the NCAA tournament and UCLA finished in 4th place in the Pac-12 conference. However, the Bruins had won three games in the NCAA tournament prior to their game against the Crimson Tide and Alabama had won two, defeating Iona and Maryland to advance to the Sweet Sixteen matchup against UCLA.
The Crimson Tide had trouble like the Wildcats did against the Bruins defense in the first half. UCLA led Alabama by 11, leading the Crimson Tide by a score of 40-29. Then Alabama had a great second half of play outscoring the Bruins 36-25 in the second half as the Crimson Tide played excellent defense after halftime. The game went into overtime and the Bruins were ready.
In overtime, the UCLA offense went into overdrive outscoring Alabama 23 to 13 to win the ball game by a final score of 88-78. It was truly a team effort as Bernard scored 17 points, David Singleton had 15, and point guard Tyger Campbell and Juzang had 13 each for the Bruins.
However, Jaquez Jr. once again was the best player on the court as he scored 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and one blocked shot. The Bruins had advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008.
UCLA going to their first Final Four since 2008
UCLA was once again the underdogs as they were against Michigan State, BYU, and Alabama. However, the Bruins were ready for the Wolverines as they had shown that they can play outstanding defense and score baskets when they needed to. UCLA was playing the No. 1 seeded Michigan Wolverines who had just defeated Florida State by 18 points in the Sweet Sixteen and the Bruins knew they were in for a fight.
Early in the game, the offenses for both teams were not at a premium and lead 27-23 at halftime. The Bruin’s ability to hold the high-powered Michigan offense to only 23 points at the half was a testament to the outstanding team defense concept that their players continued to buy into Cronin’s coaching and defensive philosophy.
In the second half, Michigan’s offense played a little bit better in comparison to UCLA’s but it was still a surprisingly low-scoring game. However, the Bruins suffocating defense held Michigan’s offense without a field goal during and just over the last five minutes of the game. To put it in a better perspective, the Wolverines missed their final eight shots of the game including an opportunity to win it at the end. UCLA was not much better on offense but their defense helped them win the game.
Juzang scored more than half of the entire Bruins points scoring 28 on 11 for 19 shooting from the field. The only other UCLA player to score more than four points was Campbell who had 11 points. Three other Bruins scored four points each and five other UCLA players were scoreless.
The Wolverines were lead by Hunter Dickinson who had 11 points but no other Michigan player scored in double digits. Michigan only played seven players as well in comparison to UCLA playing ten. It was not an exciting game by anyone’s standards but a win is a win and the Bruins advance to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.