No. 11 UCLA upsets No. 2 Alabama in OT; Texas women shut down Maryland
INDIANAPOLIS» Jaime Jaquez Jr. remembers the moment Mick Cronin introduced himself at UCLA, the new coach promising to restore the shine to the storied program by instilling a mental and physical toughness the team had never experienced. It came in handy Sunday night. After watching second-seeded Alabama’s Alex Reese take advantage of the Bruins’ soft defense to drain a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and force overtime, Jaquez and the rest of the boys in blue were completely nonplussed by the moment.
Instead, they scored the first five points of the extra session, then cruised from there to an 8878 victory that gave the No. 11 seed Bruins their first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008 — and Cronin the first of his 18-year coaching career.
“When he came to UCLA,” Jaquez said, “he basically preached the entire time, no matter what was going to happen, we were going to be a tough team, and we were going to be a defensive team. That was his whole attitude. No matter what happens, we’re going to be the toughest team to go out and play.”
After beating Michigan State in overtime just to escape the First Four, the unheralded Bruins face top-seeded Michigan on Tuesday night for a spot in the Final Four.
“There’s many times we could have packed it in,” Cronin said, “but I told them they’ve put up with me for two years trying to pound into them toughness and competitive spirit. They allowed me to do it and you’re seeing the results right now.”
UCLA thought it had the game won in regulation when Cody Riley’s lay-in made it 63-62 with 14 seconds left, and Herbert Jones — a 75% foul shooter for Alabama — missed both of his attempts with 6 seconds left.
David Singleton was fouled and made two free throws for UCLA, pushing the lead to 65-62 with 4 seconds to go. But that still gave the Crimson Tide enough time to find Reese, whose tying 3-pointer splashed just before the buzzer.
With star guard Johnny Juzang already fouled out, Jaquez and Singleton took control.
Jaquez curled in a jumper to make it 74-68, then drilled a 3pointer moments later to make it 77-70. Singleton’s free throws made it 79-70 with under a minute to go, and all UCLA (21-9) had to do was put the game away from the foul line.
“We weren’t good enough to beat them tonight. They were better,” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said. “We had all the momentum going into overtime. They could have folded. They didn’t. They came out and punched us in the mouth.”