BRUINS ‘D’ WILL GET TESTED BY ALABAMA

There’s a familiar feel to it all, the way every shot is contested, every driving lane cut off, every open player no longer open by the time a pass arrives.

UCLA is making its opponents feel like they’re stuck in mud again, just like it did at the end of last season. Gritting their way to one win after another, those Bruins were the talk of college basketball in March 2020 before COVID-19 halted the season and silenced chatter about an NCAA Tournament run.

A year later, they’re back to creating a buzz thanks in large part to a halftime rant. With his team trailing Michigan State by 11 points in a First Four game, handing out open shots like cheap fan freebies, Mick Cronin delivered a high-volume message inside the Mackey Arena locker room.

“If you guys really want it,” Cronin told his players, “you’re going to have to defend.” The Bruins did just that, gumming things up for the Spartans in the second half and overtime of a wild comeback victory. They sustained that approach while stifling BYU two days later in the first round and held Abilene Christian scoreless for more than nine minutes in a second-round rout.

Along the way, they developed a postseason mantra.

“Our defense,” junior guard Jules Bernard said, “is the reason why we’re going to survive in the tournament.”

Short of making nearly every shot it takes, 11th-seeded UCLA will have to make its defense the basis for any upset of second-seeded Alabama today at Hinkle Fieldhouse in an East Region semifinal. It has taken a quantum leap in only three games, the Bruins’ adjusted defensive efficiency going from No. 86 nationally to No. 63 in the metrics of basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy.

It will have to get even better against the Crimson Tide (26-6) for the Bruins (20-9) to reach their first regional final since 2008, when they advanced to the last of three consecutive Final Fours and appeared on the verge of another blue-andgold dynasty.

Alabama’s high-flying, shothoisting offense creates more headaches than a jackhammer. The Crimson Tide have taken more 3pointers (961) and made more shots from beyond the arc (341) than anyone else in the nation this season as a result of what Cronin described as the college basketball equivalent of

Today’s games in Indianapolis East Regional

(4) Florida St. vs. (1) Michigan, 2 p.m., Ch. 8

(11) UCLA vs. (2) Alabama, 4:15 p.m.,

TBS

a spread offense.

“Just think about football,” Cronin said. “Great offenses make you defend the whole field.”

To help with spacing, Alabama coach Nate Oats taped a four-point line 3 feet beyond the 3-point line onto the practice court so that his players could learn to catch the ball behind the former and step into shooting it behind the latter.

Making Alabama’s approach all the more dangerous is that it generates many of its 3-pointers off offensive rebounds, a rarity for teams that live beyond the arc. The Crimson Tide snagged 15 offensive rebounds in the second round against Maryland, leading to 23 secondchance points during a runaway 9677 victory.

“Where they really kill you is when they do miss, they get it and turn and throw it back out and make it,” Cronin said. “That’s how they can get on their runs. They’ve had some games where they’ve had some massive runs on people.”

Florida State vs. Michigan

The Sweet 16 game today between top-seeded Michigan and fourth-seeded Florida State could be a defensive battle.

According to analytics website kenpom.com, FSU is the tallest team in the country, one that allows opponents to shoot under 44 percent from inside, which is ranked ninth nationally. The Seminoles allowed the fewest points (107) over the first two games of any of the 16 teams left in the tournament.

After a slow start against hotshooting LSU in the second round, Michigan coach Juwan Howard kept pushing for better defense, and got it. The game changed when the Wolverines started doing a better job denying the perimeter and forcing LSU’S scorers inside, where they had to contend with 7-foot-1 Hunter Dickenson and 6-9 Franz Wagner.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.