UCLA Men's Basketball Holds Off Northwestern, Advances to Sweet 16
The Wildcats may not have taken a lead in the second half, but the Bruins' backs were firmly up against the wall.
They didn't just avoid the upset, either – the blue and gold dodged a major injury scare in the final moments as well.
No. 2 seed UCLA men's basketball (31-5, 18-2 Pac-12) needed a late surge to pull away from No. 7 seed Northwestern (22-12, 12-8 Big Ten) in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, ending the night with a 68-63 victory. The win sends the Bruins to the Sweet 16 for the third season in a row, where they will meet No. 3 seed Gonzaga or No. 6 seed TCU in Las Vegas.
As the clock was winding down, though, guard David Singleton went down with a possible ankle injury.
UCLA has been no stranger to significant injuries down the stretch this year, with guard Jaylen Clark suffering a season-ending leg injury on March 4 against Arizona and center Adem Bona missing two-plus games due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals against Oregon on March 10.
Singleton turned out to only suffer a sprained ankle in that moment, but Bruin fans were surely holding their breath considering the rest of the stress they had to face throughout the night.
The Bruins led by as many as 13 points in the second half, and they were essentially in cruise control for the middle chunk of Saturday's game. A 17-4 Northwestern run wiped out almost all of UCLA's momentum, though, and they needed their usual suspects – including Singleton – to swoop in and save the day.
Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the way with 24 points and eight rebounds. Point guard Tyger Campbell may have gone 0-for-7 from the field, but he still finished with seven assists and 12 points thanks to his perfect performance at the free throw line.
And when Bona came across the paint for a clutch block inside of two minutes, Singleton swished a transition 3-pointer to put it out of reach for Northwestern.
That was one of many chaotic stretches in a back-and-forth second half, which stood in sharp contrast to a very one-sided first half in terms of energy, scoring and pace.
Northwestern's only lead of the night came via a 3-pointer on the opening possession, as it didn't take long for Jaquez to answer with one of his own. The Pac-12 Player of the Year sparked a key 12-2 UCLA run later on as well, taking loose balls, blocked shots and long rebounds all the way down the court for bucket after bucket.
It didn't hurt that Northwestern missed 10 of 11 shots during that stretch, either. Kenneth Nwuba played a part in many of those missed shots, disrupting the Wildcats down low and riding the momentum he picked up in Thursday's win.
Lead guards Boo Buie and Chase Audige – who scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, in the first round against Boise State – combined to shoot 0-for-7 from the field in the first half before Buie's buzzer-beating hook shot that made it a 35-25 game at the break.
UCLA retained momentum early in the second half, extending the lead all the way to 13 as the fast break points continued to come rolling in. Northwestern wasn't ready to fade away, though, and an 11-2 run swung the pendulum in the exact opposite direction.
All of a sudden, the Wildcats were hitting their 3s and the Bruins weren't, and 7-footer Matt Nicholson kept burning UCLA down low with putbacks and lob dunks.
The big man was averaging just 6.0 points per game entering Saturday, but he had 14 on 7-for-7 shooting midway through the second half.
UCLA finally cut Northwestern's run short with a Bona dunk, although the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year immediately left holding the same left shoulder he injured last week in Las Vegas.
Audige resparked the Wildcats' chances, scoring 14 of his team's first 18 second-half points, and a goaltend by Nwuba tied the game at 45 all with 11:26 left to play.
Still the Bruins didn't go down, going on a 6-0 run of their own thanks to Jaquez's work down low and a big 3-pointer from guard Dylan Andrews. That gave UCLA a bit of a cushion to absorb more Audige points and a second-chance triple by Buie and still cling onto a lead.
Jaquez did his best to create more separation with a pair of layups and an assist to Bona, but Buie knocked down another 3-pointer to cut the Bruins' lead in half.
A 1-for-12 shooting stretch for Northwestern prevented them from tying things up again, and Campbell hit some free throws to take advantage of the Wildcats' cold streak. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Nicholson immediately answered with two free throws of his own at the other end.
Bona went 0-for-2 on his ensuing trip to the line, keeping Northwestern within one score. The big man made up for it with a signature block, though, and that led to Singleton's big 3-pointer that helped ice the win.
It appears likely that Singleton will be available moving forward after he once again played a big part in getting the Bruins to the Regional Semifinals. UCLA hasn't lost before the round of 16 under coach Mick Cronin, and the veteran core of Jaquez, Campbell and Singleton now has a chance to reach yet another Final Four before leaving Westwood.
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