Pac-12 in NCAA Tournament: UCLA Tops Saint Mary's as East Region Opens Up

Fourth-seeded UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year and for the fifth time in the past nine years by beating fifth-seeded Saint Mary's 72-56 on Saturday in Portland, Oregon., in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

UCLA shot 56.5% from the field and committed just six turnovers in a promising performance, especially since the East Region has opened up with both No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 2 seed Kentucky having been eliminated. The Bruins face a hot North Carolina team in the Sweet 16 on Friday as the Bruins try to get to the Final Four for the second straight year with the exact same starting lineup that got them there in 2021.

Saturday's game featured one positive sign for the Bruins (27-7) and one negative sign.

On the positive side, Johnny Juzang's scoring slump may be over. He did not score a point until 2:56 was left in the first half, but he finished with 14 points -- 12 of which came in the second half -- and had one pivotal stretch in the second half in which he made four straight shots. He averaged 22.8 points in leading UCL to the Final Four last year, but had averaged just 9.3 points

On the negative side, Jaime Jaquez, who has been UCLA's best player the past three weeks, left the game with 6:58 left in the second half with an ankle injury. He finished with 15 points, all coming in the first half, but his status for UCLA's next game is unknown.

And the Bruins will need Jaquez for their Sweet 16 game against No. 8 North Carolina, which beat Marquette by 32 points in its opening-round game and dominated top-seeded Baylor for 30 minutes before faltering in the closing moments of regulation. The Tar Heels then bounced back in overtime to win 93-86, and become a feared team.

Saturday's game did not start well for UCLA. Saint Mary's (26-8) was the only team to beat Gonzaga by a double-digit margin this season, and the Gaels jumped out to 20-13 lead while making seven of their first 10 shots.

However, UCLA clamped down defensively after that, limiting the Gaels to 33.3% shooting the rest of the game.

Four UCLA players scored in double figures. Besides Jaquez and Juzang, Tyger Campbell contributed 16 points, and Jules Bernard added 14 points, and he scored eight points during a span in which the Bruins expanded a one-point lead with 15:32 left in the second half to a seven-point advantage with 13:25 to go.

Saint Mary's quickly closed the gap to four points, but UCLA dominated the game from there, expanding its lead to 10 points with 5:57 left. Juzang made four straight shots during that spurt to help the Bruins roll.

Logan Johnson led Saint Mary's with 18 points.

Cover photo of Tyger Campbell by Soobum Im, USA TODAY Sports

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