UCLA defeats St. Mary’s to return to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year

They will escape their dance strikes as soon as once more.

The UCLA Bruins are going again to the Candy 16 for a second consecutive season after locking down and pulling away from St. Mary’s within the second spherical of the NCAA match on Saturday night on the Moda Heart.

Trailing by as many as seven factors within the first half, the Bruins ratcheted up their protection a number of notches and withstood the lack of guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. to an ankle harm with about seven minutes left on the best way to a 72-56 victory.

The ultimate minutes had been an prolonged celebration. With the Bruins up 15 factors and followers chanting “U-C-L-A!” Bruins ahead Cody Riley offered his personal exclamation level by making a three-pointer on the finish of the shot clock, holding three fingers aloft afterward for impact.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin flashed a thumbs-up to followers on his approach off the court docket, his Bruins (27-7) advancing to face eighth-seeded North Carolina in a regional semifinal on Friday in Philadelphia after the Tar Heels toppled defending nationwide champion Baylor earlier within the day. UCLA and North Carolina had been supposed to fulfill in Las Vegas this season earlier than the Bruins went on a 26-day pause after a COVID-19 outbreak on the group.

It’s the primary time UCLA has superior to the Candy 16 in back-to-back seasons since doing so in 2014-15 throughout coach Steve Alford’s first two seasons.

Jaquez went down alongside the baseline with an ankle harm and needed to depart with slightly below seven minutes left. Jaquez had scored 15 factors on six-for-11 taking pictures whereas carrying the Bruins’ offense for lengthy stretches of the primary half.

He limped round to check the ankle earlier than taking a spot on the bench, turning round to see his mom blow him just a few kisses from her spot three rows again.

Level guard Tyger Campbell scored 16 factors and Jules Bernard and Johnny Juzang added 14 every for the Bruins.

The house of the Portland Path Blazers ended up being R.I.P. Metropolis for St. Mary’s, which was bidding for under its second Candy 16 at school historical past and first since 2010. Logan Johnson led the Gaels (26-8) with 18 factors.

Resembling the phrase throughout their warmups that learn “No Stop,” St. Mary’s shortly worn out most of a seven-point halftime deficit, Alex Ducas’ three-pointer pulling the Gaels inside 38-37. Discovering separation was onerous even after Bernard made a driving layup to place his group again up by seven.

Ducas rattled in one other three-pointer to trim the Bruins’ benefit to 48-44. That’s when Juzang, largely lacking in motion since coming back from a sprained ankle earlier this month, scored six consecutive factors for his group on a bounce hook within the lane and baseline jumpers from both sides of the court docket, extending the cushion to 10 factors halfway by the second half.

UCLA took an unlikely 36-29 halftime lead given the sport’s opening minutes couldn’t have gone a lot worse. The Gaels’ precision offense flummoxed UCLA to the purpose that Cronin resorted to a dreaded rarity — a zone protection — and Johnson, who as soon as performed for Cronin at Cincinnati, responded with a three-pointer to interrupt an early tie.

After St. Mary’s adopted with two extra three-pointers to take a 16-9 lead, Cronin turned to his final resort: a timeout. The Bruins’ protection was getting shredded and its offense was seemingly going one-on-five with Jaquez attacking the basket however nobody else doing a lot of something.

The Gaels finally took a seven-point lead earlier than a humorous factor occurred on the best way to the Bruins’ obvious demise. They unleashed presumably their finest protection of the season.

It began with forcing one missed shot after one other because of traps, shortly shuffling toes and energetic fingers. UCLA rolled off a 13-0 run whereas St. Mary’s missed 12 consecutive pictures and dedicated three turnovers whereas going scoreless for 6½ minutes.

At one level, the Bruins in full lockdown mode going right into a timeout, UCLA freshman guard Peyton Watson flapped his arms to invigorate the group because the mother and father and donors behind the group bench roared in celebration.

After St. Mary’s made six of its first 9 pictures whereas holding UCLA to three-of-nine taking pictures, the tendencies had reversed by halftime. The Bruins made 11 of their final 19 pictures whereas holding the Gales to 4 of 17.