UCLA confident it can beat Minnesota in the NCAA

SACRAMENTO — The UCLA girls’s basketball crew hasn’t misplaced a sport in 120 days. In that time, the Bruins have outscored opponents by a whole of 806 factors and just one other college — Connecticut — has gone without a loss during the same stretch.

Yet someway, the No. 1 seed in the Sacramento 2 area of the NCAA event hasn’t captured the same momentum and reward as the other three top seeds who have muscled their manner into the Sweet 16.

UCLA (33-1) will play No. 4 Minnesota (24-8) at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Sacramento. The sport will air on ESPN. Entering the matchup, is UCLA’s less dominant NCAA event run a trigger for concern? Or is a win a win when it comes to March?

“Each game is going to present different adversity points,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “And I think that we don’t look at it as getting back to something. We look at it as everything is a learning opportunity. ‘What does that teach us? How does that make us better? What kinds of things do we need to tighten up?’”

As the No. 2 total seed in the event, UCLA is on a projected collision course with the top total seed, undefeated UConn, on the other aspect of the bracket.

But the Bruins, who have misplaced just once this 12 months, also may need to hit another gear to beat formidable groups still in the event discipline.

UCLA superior to the NCAA event with a Big Ten title sport win over Iowa by 51 factors. Since then, the Bruins haven’t achieved that form of dominance even against lesser opponents.

Iowa, which flamed out to No. 10 seed Virginia in the second spherical last week, may have merely been less ready than other event groups. But the Bruins do acknowledge they also have room to improve.

“I think we’re a really steady team, and obviously we’re gonna do whatever we can to win, and it changes every game, because of different teams,” said graduate ahead Angela Dugalic. “But at the same time, I do feel like I have more to give, and that’s not a bad thing.”

UCLA defeated No. 16 seed California Baptist 96-43 before an 87-68 win against No. 8 seed Oklahoma State, main the Cowgirls wire to wire but getting outscored in the second half. The Bruins led the Lancers by just 10 factors at the half of the first-round contest.

A 19-point win is a dominant exhibiting for any crew, but with the relaxation of the No. 1 seeds profitable by at least 40 factors, has UCLA shown that it is at the same stage?

“I don’t really look at it that way from those two games,” Close said. “I just think everything is measuring ourselves against the championship standards that we’ve set, and those are process standards. And so if we fall short in an area, it’s how we get back to what we know how to do and what’s under our control.”

UCLA guard Kiki Rice factors across the court while speaking to coach Cori Close during an NCAA event sport against California Baptist on March 21 at Pauley Pavilion.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA has the second-largest unfold among the No. 1 seeds coming into the Sweet 16 spherical, with oddsmakers favoring the Bruins to beat Minnesota by 18.5 factors. UConn leads all groups as a 27.5-point favourite to beat No. 4 seed North Carolina. The Bruins haven’t received a sport by fewer than 10 factors since a 69-66 extra time victory over Ohio State on Feb. 8.

Minnesota has the ninth-best NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, of remaining groups, which is better than the other groups matched up against No. 1 seeds (North Carolina is nineteenth, Oklahoma is thirteenth and Kentucky is sixteenth).

During UCLA’s 76-58 win over Minnesota in January, Kiki Rice scored a season-high 25 factors. Since then, the Gophers have gone 12-4 while profitable video games by an average just under 9 factors while UCLA has gone 17-0 with an average margin of victory of 26.9.

“No team is perfect ever,” UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens said. “So I think [we’re] just making sure that we know what to do, and we know what it takes to be our best. So just making sure we can do that 40 minutes every game is going to be the thing we take away [from the first and second rounds].”

Since UCLA beat Minnesota, the Gophers took down No. 5 seed Ole Miss, a crew that many picked as a event sleeper and shot 46.2% from the discipline during the season.

“They’ve gotten better, but so have we, and once the postseason comes the best teams, the most successful teams, they find ways to just continue to get better,” Rice said. “To stay true to that process, but to take it up to a next level. Because at this time of the year, it’s do or die, and you gotta compete really hard.”

UCLA’s 28.6 average margin of victory is fifth in the nation behind the event’s other No. 1 seeds and No. 2 seed LSU, a crew the Bruins would possibly face Sunday in the Elite Eight.

LSU, the highest-scoring crew in the nation, faces No. 3 Duke on Friday night time. If UCLA and LSU win, it would set up the third consecutive season they’ve met in the NCAA event. UCLA received the matchup last season 72-65 to get to the Final Four, while the Tigers upset the Bruins in the 2024 Sweet 16 en route to a national title.

The Bruins dominated Duke back in November, incomes an 89-59 win immediately after their sole loss of the season to Texas. Gabriela Jaquez took over that sport with 23 factors.

But March exams are far more difficult than something the Bruins have confronted to date. The veteran UCLA crew is confident it can keep evolving as it chases a national title.

“I think [improving] just requires us to take things to a different place and be more aggressive and dictate in all aspects,” Dugalic said. “That’s the beauty of it, we can get there.”