Bruins coach Mick Cronin gets his first win over the Bulldogs after four previous losses that included a pair of buzzer-beaters.
No crazy buzzer-beater. No last-minute miracle.
After so much heartache over so many years, UCLA finally shook off its Gonzaga jinx under coach Mick Cronin on Saturday afternoon at Intuit Dome.
It looked like the Bruins might be in store for more misfortune when Sebastian Mack fouled Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard on a driving layup with 8.1 seconds left, sending Nembhard to the line for the free throw that could tie the score.
But the basketball gods finally smiled upon the Bruins.
Nembhard missed the free throw and UCLA’s Skyy Clark chased down the rebound before getting fouled. He made both free throws to give the No. 22 Bruins a breathless 65-62 victory over the No. 14 Bulldogs.
It was the first victory over Gonzaga for Cronin at UCLA after having dropped his first four meetings, including a pair of heartbreakers on game-winning shots in the NCAA tournament.
A heavily pro-Bruins crowd cheered the team on its way off the court after it shook off its 16-point collapse against North Carolina from last weekend.
Forward Eric Dailey Jr. scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures for the Bruins (11-2), who made 12 of 24 three-pointers.
Gonzaga (9-4) had multiple chances to forge another late win. Bulldogs guard Dusty Stromer rose for a three-pointer that could have given his team the lead with 17 seconds left, but the shot was off the mark and Clark grabbed the rebound before getting fouled.
Clark got both of his free throws to roll in, providing the Bruins with a 63-62 lead. UCLA was the team that needed a little luck this time.
Mack redeemed himself — and gave the Bruins a 61-60 advantage with 33 seconds left — when he made a floater as he was fouled. He sank the free throw after having previously missed two on his team’s previous possession.
Gonzaga forward Graham Ike was a gamelong problem for the Bruins, scoring in a variety of ways around the basket while finishing with 24 points on 11-for-16 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs unleashed the sort of harassing defense normally associated with the Bruins, making every UCLA possession a slog. With point guard Dylan Andrews’ slump deepening, the Bruins often struggled to produce good shots — or, in a few cases, any shot while committing a shot-clock violation.
Andrews was benched down the stretch in favor of Mack, who made the play his team needed.
The halftime score — UCLA 27, Gonzaga 25 — looked like a misprint given the Bruins shot only 29% and committed nine turnovers. The advantage came thanks mostly to UCLA making five of 12 three-pointers (compared to Gonzaga’s two of 11), forcing the Bulldogs into 11 turnovers and grabbing two more rebounds than their counterparts.
Read more: Dylan Andrews must reassert himself: Five takeaways from UCLA’s excruciating loss
The Bruins looked like they were headed to a much larger cushion after Clark used a crossover move to free himself for a jumper that capped an 11-0 run for his team, giving UCLA a 24-13 lead.
Tensions momentarily rose late in the first half when Gonzaga guard Khalif Battle was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected for clobbering Dailey, the contact prompting Cronin to shed his suit jacket before conversing with officials about the play.
The loss of their third-leading scorer seemed to galvanize the Bulldogs the rest of the first half. They went on to hold UCLA scoreless for more than four minutes while rolling off a 9-0 push that wiped out most of the Bruins’ big lead.
UCLA played without center William Kyle III, who was sidelined by an unspecified medical issue, according to a team spokesperson.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
