Da Silva takes his shot and it’s a winner
Stanford downs UCLA with buzzer-beater in overtime
SANTA ARUZ >> 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 73-72 on Saturday, ending the Bruins’ unbeaten streak in the Pac-12.
Da Silva finished with 26 points, the last coming on a lay-in off a set piece with
0.8 seconds 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 a key steal and dunk with 1:39 remaining for the nomadic Cardinal (9-5, 5-3 Pac12) in their first win over a ranked opponent in three tries this season.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to run,” Stanford coach Jarod 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. Our defense and our defense adherence to the game plan and what we went over and over and over ... we had no business winning. We put ourselves in a horrible position with unacceptable, unacceptable mistakes.”
Johnny Juzang scored a career-high 27 points for the Bruins (12-3, 8-1), 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 COVID-19 restrictions, Stanford remained unbeaten in five games at Kaiser Permanente Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors’ G-league team.
The Cardinal made five free throws to start overtime but trailed 72-71 after Tyger Campbell’s three-point 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 a career-high four 3-pointers over the final eight minutes of the first half. A sophomore transfer from Kentucky, Juzang made seven consecutive shots as part of a 21-10 run to