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Sunday, March 28, 2021

No. 11 UCLA Upsets No. 2 Alabama in OT Thriller, Advances to Elite Eight - Bleacher Report

UCLA players react to a play against Alabama in overtime duiring a Sweet 16 game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Sunday, March 28, 2021. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
AJ Mast/Associated Press

The UCLA Bruins aren't traditionally in the underdog role, but their Cinderella run this season survived another round.

UCLA advanced to its first Elite Eight since 2008 with an 88-78 overtime victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Sunday's Sweet 16 clash at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jules Bernard, Johnny Juzang, Cody Riley and Tyger Campbell led the way for the No. 11 seed in the East Region of the 2021 NCAA men's tournament.

The Bruins also impressed by controlling overtime even though Alex Reese drilled a deep three at the buzzer of regulation to force the extra period.

Solid showings from John Petty Jr. and Jahvon Quinerly were not enough for the second-seeded Crimson Tide, who have not made the Elite Eight since 2004.

        

Notable Player Stats

  • Jaime Jaquez Jr., G, UCLA: 17 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL
  • Jules Bernard, G, UCLA: 17 PTS, 6 REB, 4-of-10 3PT
  • Tyger Campbell, G, UCLA: 13 PTS, 5 AST, 2 STL
  • Cody Riley, F, UCLA: 10 PTS, 5 REB, 4 BLK
  • Jahvon Quinerly, G, ALA: 20 PTS, 3 AST, 3 REB
  • John Petty Jr., G, ALA: 16 PTS, 5 REB

          

UCLA's Resilience Propels It to Elite Eight

It's not too often a No. 11 seed doesn't match up with an opponent better than a No. 6 seed until the Sweet 16, but that was the case for UCLA.

After surviving a First Four overtime showdown with Michigan State, the Bruins defeated sixth-seeded BYU and benefited from an earlier upset by facing 14th-seeded Abilene Christian in the second round. That a solid but unspectacular BYU from the West Coast Conference was the biggest test to this point made it difficult to fully assess the Bruins' run.

A matchup with the SEC champions represented both a challenge and an opportunity to validate their worthiness as a Final Four contender.

An offense that checks in at No. 12 in KenPom.com's rankings was up to the challenge from the start while pouring in 40 points by halftime to build a double-digit lead. Bernard caught fire from deep, David Singleton provided a spark off the bench with his shooting and Juzang remained in attack mode.

Yet all of that impressive shooting and overall offense from the start of the game went completely missing after halftime.

The Bruins fell in love with contested outside shots and didn't score a single point in the first five minutes of the second half. They missed their first seven triples of the half, settled for looks early in the shot clock instead of exploiting mismatches and were dealt a difficult blow when Juzang fouled out while attempting to rebound his own miss in traffic. 

It would have been easy to fold as the No. 2 seed quickly overcame the halftime deficit, and it would have been even easier when Juzang fouled out. It would have been even easier after Reese drilled his three-pointer at the buzzer to turn a sure UCLA win into an overtime affair.

Instead, Campbell created looks for himself and others by penetrating the lane, Riley carried the team on both ends in crunch time of regulation by protecting the rim and scoring in the lane, and Jaquez made arguably the two biggest shots of the game in the extra period. That it all came with Juzang out only further underscored the resilience from the Pac-12 squad.

            

Free Throws Will Haunt Alabama All Offseason

Alabama did almost everything it could to overcome a double-digit halftime deficit.

Except for making free throws.

The Crimson Tide could not have scripted much worse of an opening minute to Sunday's game when Herbert Jones, who won the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year this season, committed two fouls and immediately went to the bench.

The early offense largely fell apart without him, although Quinerly and Keon Ellis did what they could to keep their team within striking distance. That only went so far when UCLA closed the first half on an 18-4 run, but things flipped early in the second half with a quick 11-0 run for Alabama when Petty took over for extended stretches.

His contributions were all the more important with Jaden Shackelford's uncharacteristic poor play and turnover issues and Jones essentially a nonfactor on offense.

Still, it was all for naught because the SEC representatives shot an ugly 11-of-25 (44 percent) from the free-throw line. It appeared as if Jones lost the game for his side in regulation when he missed two from the charity stripe down one with six seconds remaining, but Reese temporarily saved him.

Even Reese fell victim to the free throws, though, missing two early in overtime as UCLA was gaining control. Even an average performance from the line would have been enough to propel Alabama to a comeback win.

         

What's Next?

The Bruins will face the Michigan Wolverines in the Elite Eight on Tuesday.

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No. 11 UCLA Upsets No. 2 Alabama in OT Thriller, Advances to Elite Eight - Bleacher Report
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