UCLA mens basketball survives collapse to barely | College News

EVANSTON, Ill. — It was a frighteningly acquainted story for UCLA.

From absolutely locked in and comfortably forward to being on the verge of collapse.

What had been a 14-point lead over Northwestern with a little more than two minutes left Monday night time was down to one with 21 seconds to go after Bruins ahead Tyler Bilodeau was triple-teamed and known as for touring, finally main to a backdoor layup for the Wildcats.

It was one other late-game blunder in a collection of turnovers, missed free throws and empty possessions that appeared so recognizable.

This was the identical state of affairs that had unfolded earlier this season during losses to North Carolina and Minnesota, in addition to victories over Indiana and Oregon that have been a lot more harrowing than they needed to be.

What is it about these Bruins that tends to go so incorrect within the ultimate minutes?

“My buddy, Scott Van Pelt, likes having us on ‘Bad Beats,’” UCLA coach Mick Cronin cracked in a single nook of Welsh-Ryan Arena, alluding to the ESPN phase devoted to epic meltdowns that lead to betting losses. “So I’m trying to get on that show.”

Cronin may joke concerning the circumstances given the way in which issues turned out. His Bruins shrugged off their self-inflicted misfortune to maintain on for a 73-69 victory after one other breathless end.

The essential sequence got here after Northwestern fouled UCLA’s Skyy Clark, who made one of two free throws to prolong his crew’s benefit to two factors with 21 seconds remaining.

Wildcats ahead Nick Martinelli drove towards the basket earlier than dropping the ball as he tried to squeeze between William Kyle III and Eric Dailey Jr., the group screaming for a foul that by no means got here. Instead, Kyle grabbed the ball and handed to Kobe Johnson, whose outlet move to Dailey left the Wildcats no selection however to deliberately foul him with 8.4 seconds left.

Dailey made each free throws and the Bruins (21-9 total, 12-7 Big Ten) prevailed on a night time that it seemed like Aday Mara was going to be the large story.

Entering the sport after Bilodeau picked up his third foul early within the second half, Mara modified the whole lot. In a savvy transfer, Mara’s teammates repeatedly acquired him the ball close to the basket, main to 5 consecutive factors on a layup, a leap hook and a free throw after the 7-foot-3 sophomore was hacked as a consequence of the Wildcats being unable to stop him some other means.

“The times they looked at me and they passed me the ball,” Mara mentioned of his teammates, “it was easy because I was under the rim. Just turn and score, get fouled, you know?”

At first, a few pockets of UCLA followers confirmed their appreciation for the large man.

Then practically the complete crowd did.

Fans of each groups unleashed audible astonishment when Mara threw down his second dunk.

“When you see a 7-3 guy do that,” Bilodeau mentioned of the murmurs, “it’s great.”

Mara went on to log a double-double in solely 16 minutes, ending with 11 factors, 10 rebounds and three blocks whereas making his newest case for more taking part in time.

“When he’s in there, he’s the best offensive player we have,” Cronin mentioned, noting that Mara needed to proceed to work on his conditioning as a result of he was exhausted by the time he left the sport. “You can’t stop him one on one and he’s our best passer, so get it to him close to the rim and let him do his thing.”

Bilodeau (19 factors) sustained his crew’s momentum when he returned, grabbing an offensive rebound that led to a leap hook. It was a theme for the Bruins, who grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Northwestern (16-14, 7-12) by 14. A change in how the Bruins defended the choose and roll by higher containing the ballhandler helped maintain the Wildcats to a point-a-minute tempo till the ultimate two minutes.

That’s when the Bruins, main 68-54, began working a basketball model of the fade route.

Among the lowlights have been two dangerous passes by level guard Dylan Andrews that turned turnovers, a Clark shot that was blocked — main to a dunk on the different finish — and a missed entrance finish of a one-and-one free-throw scenario by Andrews.

UCLA was nonetheless forward by three factors when the Wildcats converged on Bilodeau, who later informed Cronin he was attempting to heed his advice to call a timeout. Instead, he was known as for touring.

Cronin blamed himself for his gamers’ failures within the ultimate minutes.

“I think it’s on me — I’ve got to coach them better, at the end of the day,” Cronin mentioned. “You’ve got to get the ball in, you’ve got to be strong with the ball. It was our possession and we had three timeouts, so you have no reason to be in a hurry — just keep calling a timeout or take the jump ball and they don’t do it, I’ve got to coach them better.”

Cronin was in a reflective temper afterward, saying his crew hasn’t performed onerous enough defensively for stretches of Big Ten play. With solely the crosstown rivalry sport left earlier than the convention event, Cronin is aware of that has to change if UCLA desires to get to the place it desires to go this month.

“We haven’t been consistent and that’s on me, that’s totally on me,” Cronin mentioned. “It’s my job to try to get us there because if not, we’re going home — everybody that’s not is going home early.”

They have been joyful to be headed home late Monday, their bus experience to the airport pushing midnight however not their endurance after they made the performs they needed.

“Every game, you gotta win by one point,” Mara mentioned with a smile, “so it’s fun.”