PHILADELPHIA — So much was going to have to go right for UCLA basketball, once again left without its leading scorer.
Another solid showing from its defense and continued strong post play from Xavier Booker was a start.
But there was no way the Bruins were going to beat UConn on Sunday night with the sort of sloppiness they displayed, the number of layups they missed or the number of times they fouled a 3-point shooter.
Ultimately, short-handed UCLA was no match for a deeper, more poised and simply better opponent.
Putting up a worthy fight until the final minutes, the seventh-seeded Bruins finally fell short during a 73-57 loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The unraveling came in a blur. Having wiped out most of a 12-point deficit, the Bruins twice took shots that could have brought them within two. They missed both.
UCLA’s Trent Perry then fouled Braylon Mullins on a 3-point attempt – joining Jamar Brown and Donovan Dent in making that bad blunder – and the Huskies were off on a 9-0 run that gained momentum with a technical foul on UCLA coach Mick Cronin.
That was pretty much it.
The Huskies (31-5) advanced to play third-seeded Michigan State in an East Regional semifinal on Friday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
For the Bruins (24-12), it’s a second straight second-round exit after having missed the NCAA Tournament the previous year, necessitating some hard questions about the need for a new approach.
Booker scored 13 points and Dent added 11 points and nine assists, but too many of their teammates struggled. Perry made just two of eight shots and the Bruins got only five points from their bench.
UCLA looked like it was finished midway through the second half when UConn’s Alex Karaban (a career-high 27 points) buried a 3-pointer to put the Huskies up by 12 points.
That’s when the Bruins rolled off eight straight points, including an Eric Dailey Jr. driving layup in transition in which he was fouled. After Dailey made the free throw, UCLA was down only 56-52.
The Bruins were once again without star forward Tyler Bilodeau, who participated in the morning shootaround but did not make sufficient progress in his recovery from a sprained right knee to play. It was the third straight game Bilodeau has missed since going down in the Big Ten Tournament.
Meanwhile, UConn celebrated the return of point guard Silas Demary Jr., who had missed the team’s first-round victory over Furman with an ankle injury he sustained in the Big East Tournament. Huskies fans cheered when Demary entered the game for the first time with 14:15 left in the first half.
Injuries have had a way of influencing – or precluding – games involving UCLA and UConn.
In 2023, the Bruins might have faced the Huskies in the Elite Eight had UCLA not lost forward Jaylen Clark to an Achilles injury and center Adem Bona to a shoulder injury. Bona attended the game Sunday, sitting across from the Bruins’ bench.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Cronin told his players they were part of his worst defensive team in 23 years as a head coach.
He wasn’t trying to be mean, just relaying a fact according to metrics that backed up his words.
Redoubling their efforts and benefiting from a few schematic tweaks, the Bruins pulled together to become far more disruptive, sparking a late-season run.
Their ability to muck things up was on display once more in the early going Sunday.
UCLA forced seven turnovers before the midpoint of the first half, bolstering its upset hopes. When Dailey drove and dished to Booker for a ferocious dunk, the Bruins were up 18-12. It almost looked like the teams should trade seeds.
But UConn was the favorite for a reason. Showing their ability to thrive no matter what the Bruins did to stop them, the Huskies started making tough shots. After Braylon Mullins sank a 3-pointer to push UConn into a 35-30 advantage, Huskies coach Dan Hurley flapped his arms to pump up fans who had just watched their team make seven consecutive shots.
They were just getting started.