UCLA IN ROLE OF GOLIATH
On one side, it’s mighty UCLA. College basketball royalty.
On the other end, it’s tiny Abilene Christian. NCAA novice.
A perfect matchup for an NCAA Tournament full of March Madness.
Johnny Juzang and UCLA take on Joe Pleasant and Abilene Christian in an unlikely matchup in the second round of the East Regional today in Indianapolis. The 11th-seeded Bruins (19-9) advanced with a 73-62 victory over BYU, and the 14th-seeded Wildcats (24-4) edged No. 3 Texas 53-52 in one of the tournament’s biggest surprises so far.
It’s the sixth time there has been an 11 vs. 14 contest since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the previous one occurring in 2015.
It’s big vs. small. Tradition vs. NCAA neophyte.
UCLA, with an enrollment of 31,000-plus, has 11 national titles in men’s college basketball. It’s based in the most populous city on the West Coast and circled by mountains, beaches and nature.
Located in the arid plains of West Texas where high school football is king, Abilene Christian has 5,000 students. It moved from Division II to I in 2013-14 and now has a win in the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ll get them to focus,” Abilene Christian coach Joe Golding said. “We’ll get them off the phone. I won’t have a hard time of getting a chip on their shoulder. We play UCLA, man. We’re still little Abilene Christian. Nothing ’s going to change.”
While most of the nation might pull for the team few have heard of in a tournament rife with upsets, the Bruins don’t care.
After more than a decade without an appearance in the Final Four, UCLA finds itself on the precipice of both personal redemption and the continued restoration of a tarnished brand.
A victory over the Wildcats would give Bruins coach Mick Cronin, saddled with doubts about his losing record in the NCAA Tournament,
three wins in a single trip to college basketball’s biggest stage for the first time.
It also would give UCLA its first regional semifinal appearance since 2017 while reminding the Bruins there are more mileposts to go before reaching their intended destination.
UCLA could become the fifth team to advance to the tournament’s second weekend after playing in a dreaded First Four play-in game, hoping to replicate Virginia Commonwealth’s singular goosebump run to the Final Four in 2011.
“For us,” Cronin said Sunday, “you got to want more.”
Standing in UCLA’s way will be a team that could steal its joy — not to mention the ball — after upsetting instate rival Texas on Saturday.
The Wildcats forced 23 Texas turnovers, snatching the final inbounds pass as the Bruins watched on television inside their Hinkle Fieldhouse locker room.
“They’re going to take it
from you,” Cronin said of the Wildcats. “It’s not if, it’s when.”
Abilene Christian leads the nation in forcing turnovers, taking the ball away on 27 percent of its opponents’ possessions by speeding up ballhandlers and forcing them into bad decisions. For those who aren’t great in math, that means the Wildcats end up with the ball on more than one out of every four trips down the court by their counterparts.
A reporter suggesting Abilene Christian was a good defensive team quickly
was corrected.
“No,” Cronin responded, “they’re great.”
Cronin half-jokingly said he hoped his team didn’t have four turnovers by the first television timeout, roughly four minutes into the game.
If it’s any comfort, the Bruins committed only four turnovers against BYU and have been one of the nation’s better teams when it comes to holding onto the ball, turning it over on 16.2 percent of their possessions, according to basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy. That ranks No. 41 nationally.
If his team can limit turnovers to fewer than 15, Cronin said, it probably will win.
Amplifying the challenge will be UCLA’s wobbly legged conundrum — the Bruins will be the only team in the tournament playing for the third time in five days.
“Getting their emotional gas tank back to where it’s full,” Cronin said, “is my biggest concern more so than the (number of ) games.”