San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Da Silva’s buzzerbeater snaps Bruins’ win streak
SANTA CRUZ — Oscar da Silva surveyed UCLA’s defense and thought about hanging back to try a short jumper.
“They started yelling ‘Watch the lob, watch the lob,’ ” the Stanford senior said. “I just waited a little longer and the space opened up under the basket, and I went.”
Da Silva scored off an inbound pass as time expired in overtime to lift Stanford over No. 24 UCLA 7372 on Saturday, ending the Bruins’ unbeaten streak in the Pac12.
Da Silva finished with 26 points, the last coming on a layin off a set piece with 0.8 of a second remaining. Da Silva cut down the lane, received Michael O’Connell’s feed from under the basket and banked the winning shot in with his left hand.
“When you grind a game out like that, it’s very rewarding when you win in the end,” da Silva said. “It couldn’t have come in more dramatic fashion.”
Jaiden Dalaire added 19 points, including two on a dunk with 1:39 remaining after a steal for the Cardinal (95, 53 Pac12) in their first win over a ranked opponent in three tries this season.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to run,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “Doesn’t mean it was going to work. We went over that play two days ago.”
It was also the play Stanford ran at the end of the first half when da Silva scored with 38 seconds left, and UCLA coach Mick Cronin was clearly frustrated by it.
“The same guys were in, gave up the same layup at the end of the first half. At the end of the day, it’s the coaches’ job to prepare for a play like that,” Cronin said. “We got what we deserved.”
Johnny Juzang scored 27 points for the Bruins (123, 81), including UCLA’s final 16 in the first half. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 points.
Unable to play at Maples Pavilion this season due to COVID19 restrictions, Stanford is unbeaten in five games at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz.
The Cardinal made five free throws to start overtime but trailed 7271 after Tyger Campbell’s threepoint play with 5.5 seconds left.
UCLA’s Jalen Hill blocked a shot by Delaire, but Stanford got one last try when the ball went out of bounds off a Bruins player. Da Silva beat two defenders to McConnell’s pass for the winning shot.
The play was reviewed briefly before being confirmed.
Both teams missed a chance to win in regulation. Da Silva came up short on a layup attempt with 22 seconds remaining, and Campbell’s jumper from the left elbow hit the rim.
Juzang shot the Bruins out of their early funk with four 3pointers over the final eight minutes of the first half. Before Juzang went on his tear, UCLA had missed 13 of its first 17 shots.