| Men’s Basketball |
|---|
| UCLA — 73 |
| Minnesota — 78 |
15 seconds left. UCLA trails by three.
The ball swings to senior guard Donovan Dent, who lets it fly from deep.
Nearly 10,000 fans in Williams Arena hold their breath.
Clank.
Despite finishing with 15 assists to match his career high, the senior point guard shot just 16.7% from the field and came up empty in crunch time.
Meanwhile, Minnesota (14-15, 7-11 Big Ten) shot 52.2% from beyond the arc, handing the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team (19-10, 11-7 Big Ten) a 78-73 upset loss on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
“We’ve struggled defensively all year,” said head coach Mick Cronin. “We got deficiencies and they exposed them. Give em’ all the credit.”
The first few minutes were an absolute shootout, sparked by 19.6 points-per-game scorer Cade Tyson, who drove in, faded away and sunk a contested middy over Dent, giving the Gophers an early 4-2 lead.
On the other end, senior guard Skyy Clark responded with a no-hesitation corner triple, but Tyson fired back on the ensuing possession with a catch-and-shoot three in transition.
Clark then countered again, blowing past his defender and pulling up for a go-ahead middy. Nonetheless, Minnesota answered immediately as Langston Reynolds found a wide-open Bobby Durkin in the corner, who drilled the Gophers’ first of 12 threes on the afternoon.
Right back the other way, senior forward Tyler Bilodeau buried it from downtown, but Minnesota struck back again with a slashing right-hand layup from Reynolds, granting them a 12-10 lead just four minutes into the match.
Clark and Bilodeau continued to lead the way for the Bruins, scoring their next 11 points, including a trio of threes. Still, it was not enough to reclaim the lead, as Durkin caught fire with three consecutive triples that electrified the crowd of maroon and gold.
Following this, the pace began to slow and neither side was able to gain separation before the break. With the first-half shot clock winding down, Bilodeau rose from deep to give UCLA the lead, but came up short, sending the Bruins into halftime down 41-40.
In the first half alone, UCLA knocked down seven threes, shooting 57.1% from the field and 53.9% from three.
Minnesota was just as efficient, finishing with eight triples while shooting 53.9% overall and 66.7% from downtown.
The second half was more of the same. 12 seconds in, Durkin sidestepped off a screen and hit nothing but net from beyond the arc.
Junior forward Eric Dailey Jr. then began to heat up, knocking down a textbook midrange jumper before converting another a few possessions later. Moments later, Dent launched an alley-oop from the logo to a flying Dailey Jr., shushing “The Herd” inside Williams Arena.
Bilodeau then took the reins for UCLA, scoring the Bruins’ next 10 points with a little bit of everything, including size-up middys, a two-handed dunk, a one-handed floater and a slashing layup.
Nonetheless, through all of that, the Bruins could not hold down the fort on the defensive end, as Tyson, Durkin and Reynolds continued to pour in buckets for the Gophers. The trio combined for 65 of Minnesota’s 85 total points.
With 3:45 remaining, Tyson called iso on Bilodeau and nailed a step-back jumper with a hand in his face, granting the Gophers a 7-point lead.
Bilodeau and Clark punched back, scoring UCLA’s next six points, but the Bruins still could not keep up on defense, as Reynolds and Durkin combined for five more to keep Minnesota in front.
Down six with 1:50 left and the game hanging in the balance, Bilodeau converted an and-one layup to give the Bruins a glimmer of hope.
The Gophers then failed to pull away on the next two possessions, giving UCLA a chance to send it to overtime.
Clark drove in, spun around and kicked it out to Dent on the perimeter, who rose up and hit straight iron, sealing the win for Minnesota.
“They made some tough shots, and we gotta do better getting through screens,” added Bilodeau.
Bilodeau finished with 32 points while Dailey Jr. and Clark dropped 18 and 17, respectively.
“Plus ten on the glass. Shoot 51%. Make ten threes. You should win,” said Cronin. “But not this team … it’s just been a grind. It’s something I haven’t experienced in 30 years.”
UCLA will now return to Pauley Pavilion to take on Nebraska on Tuesday, March 3 at 8 p.m. PST. They will then drive 30 minutes to the Galen Center, hoping to sweep the season series against USC.
The next two games are critical for the Bruins, as they look to secure their spot and improve their seeding in March Madness.
