UCLA’s win caps day of thrillers
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — UCLA showed plenty of fight in its overtime win over Michigan State in a First Four game in the NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans showed some fight, too — among themselves.
After coach Tom Izzo and forward Gabe Brown carried a shouting match into the halftime locker room, the Spartans proceeded to blow an 11-point lead over the next 20 minutes. UCLA forced overtime with Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s three-point play with 3.3 seconds to go, then pulled away in the extra session for an 86-80 victory at Mackey Arena on Thursday night.
The Bruins’ Cody Riley hit a foul shot with 26 seconds left and, after the Spartans’ Joshua Langford missed at the other end, Jaylen Clark added two more to send UCLA into a first-round game against No. 6 seed BYU on Saturday night.
Jaquez finished with a career-high 27 points, Johnny Juzang added 18, and Riley and Jules Bernard had 11 apiece for the Bruins (20-7), who had backed into the tournament on the heels of four consecutive losses.
Aaron Henry led the Spartans (15-13) with 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Both teams had a chance to end the game in regulation.
The Spartans regained the lead on Malik Hall’s two free throws with five minutes to go, then
stretched it to five moments later. But after the Bruins came all the way back, and Jaquez’s threepoint play knotted the game 77-all with 28.7 seconds left, the Spartans’ Rocket Watts shot an airball on a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Bruins inbounded the ball and got it to Juzang, whose heave from
the midcourt line bounced off the rim.
That merely delayed UCLA’s first win over the Spartans in its last three tries.
DRAKE 53 WICHITA STATE 52
Joseph Yesufu scored 21 points, and the Bulldogs beat the Shockers in the First Four at West Lafayette, Ind., for Drake’s first
NCAA Tournament win in a half-century.
Drake’s last tournament victory had been 50 years ago to the day —- March 18, 1971, against Notre Dame.
The Bulldogs were hardly overmatched in this year’s tournament field — they came in with 25 wins, second most of the 68 teams behind top overall seed Gonzaga, and their tense matchup with a
longtime Missouri Valley Conference rival brought some early drama to the pandemic-affected tourney.
Wichita State’s Dexter Dennis made a 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining to trim Drake’s lead to a point. The Bulldogs got the ball in to Yesufu, who was fouled. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Shockers a chance, but Wichita State’s Alterique Gilbert settled for a long 3-pointer that hit the front rim as time expired.
Tremell Murphy added 11 points for 11th-seeded Drake (26-4), which advanced to play sixth-seeded Southern California in the West Region on Saturday.
Morris Udeze scored a career-high 22 points for Wichita State (16-6).
NORFOLK STATE 54 APPALACHIAN STATE 53
Devante Carter made two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining, and the Spartans held on to beat the Mountaineers in the First Four at Bloomington, Ind., after blowing an 18-point second-half lead.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Spartans completed a sweep by historically Black colleges and universities on the first day of NCAA Tournament play, joining Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Texas Southern, which beat Mount St. Mary’s earlier Thursday. Norfolk State advanced to face top overall seed Gonzaga on Saturday.
Jalen Hawkins scored 20 of his 24 points before halftime for the Spartans (17-7), who earned their first tournament win since upsetting No. 2 seed Missouri in 2012.
Justin Forrest had 18 points for Appalachian State (17-12), which shot 27 percent and missed its final 10 attempts.