An instant classic unfolded in front of everyone's eyes on Saturday night in the Final Four. No. 1 seed Gonzaga defeated No. 11 seed UCLA with a half-court, overtime buzzer-beater from Jalen Suggs to advance the Bulldogs to the National Championship vs. Baylor.
Gonzaga closed as 14.5 point favorites in the game but UCLA battled all game long thanks to leading scorer Johnny Juzang, who scored 29 points with six rebounds. Jaime Jaquez Jr. also chipped in with 19 points in UCLA's loss. The Bruins were highly effective from the field all night long, shooting 57.6%.
On Sunday morning, former Louisville coach and current Iona head coach Rick Pitino took to Twitter to shout out UCLA head coach Mick Cronin and his team’s effort.
“Couldn’t be prouder of my great friend @CoachMickCronin,” Pitino wrote. “Such an amazing college basketball game. One of the all time greatest offensive displays. Congrats Bruins, that was spectacular. Gonzaga has one left in order to make history. Happy Easter everyone!”
After the game, Cronin was all class, commending his team for the incredible effort they gave while also congratulating Gonzaga.
"First of all, congratulations to Gonzaga. Coach (Mark) Few is a great guy. They've got a great team. Obviously everybody's going to ask what I just told my team. So I'll just tell you. I just told them they've got to let the last shot go. And as much as they want to be beat down right now and gutted and miserable, they've got to let it go because they're winners. They won.
"As a coach, all you can do is ask your players to give you everything they've got. And I mean, come on guys, all you've got to do is watch. To see a team improve the way we've improved, to lose Chris Smith, Jalen Hill, to have injuries to (fourth-year junior forward) Cody Riley, to (sophomore guard) Johnny Juzang, all the way to poor Jules Bernard throwing up all night, missing practice today, taking IVs to get himself on the court. And then to a half-court bank shot at the buzzer.
"These guys, they deserved a better ending, but like I told them, as coach Wooden would say, true greatness is giving your best effort. And that's what they did."
Rick Pitino has a message for Mick Cronin after Final Four loss to Gonzaga - 247Sports
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