Over in a blur
OAKLAND, Calif. – Nothing is supposed to come easy this time of year.
But nothing should come this cruelly, either.
Given an opportunity – several, in fact – to put away second-seeded UCLA in Thursday night’s third-round of the NCAA tournament, the third-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs deferred.
The Bruins took advantage of the generous gesture to stage a riveting late-game comeback that resulted in an unlikely 73-71 win that left the Zags and the rest of those who had crowded into the Oakland Arena wondering what happened.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored shortly after a steal with 9 seconds left to give UCLA its first lead of the game and then came up with a near steal that resulted in a key tie-up, with the possession arrow favoring the Bruins.
Just that quickly, GU’s hopes of making it to another Elite Eight vanished, leaving the Zags staring in utter disbelief at an unexplainable defeat.
The Bulldogs’ Adam Morrison, after scoring a game-high 24 points in what was probably his final college game, collapsed to the floor in despair after teammate J.P. Batista’s last-second desperation shot from the left wing failed to fall.
GU’s late-game collapse sent the Bulldogs home with a 29-4 record, while the resilient Bruins (30-6) advanced to Saturday afternoon’s region championship against top-seeded Memphis.
“We just didn’t quite finish that one off,” Zags coach Mark Few said after watching his team blow a nine-point lead in the final 31/2 minutes of the game. “But UCLA deserves a lot of credit down the stretch for just hanging in there.”
“Obviously, were pleased to get the win,” said coach Ben Howland, whose Bruins trailed 42-29 at halftime.
“That was a great finish for us and a testament to the character, the toughness, the heart of our players. I’m really, really proud of them.”
The Bruins, who got 30 points from their sophomore backcourt tandem of Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmer, trailed 71-64 with 3:27 remaining, but then held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way.
They closed to within 71-70 on a pair of free throws by Ryan Hollins and came up with a huge steal on the GU’s next possession.
The biggest play of the game played out when the Bruins’ Cedric Bozeman stripped the ball from Batista. It was picked up by Farmar, who fed a high pass to Mbah a Moute for the go-ahead bucket.
Shortly after GU’s ensuing inbounds pass, the Bulldogs’ Derek Raivio had the ball tipped away near midcourt and Mbah a Moute made a diving attempt at a steal and ended up forcing a jump ball that gave UCLA another possession.
The Zags, trailing 72-71, put Afflalo on the line immediately and he hit 1 of 2 free throws for the final margin.
GU tried a long inbounds pass to Batista, who made the catch in traffic but couldn’t convert on an off-balance jumper from about 16 feet out.
“We had control of that game for most the game,” said Morrison, the nation’s leading Division I scorer, who is expected to forgo his senior year at GU and declare for this summer’s NBA Draft. “It just happened in a blur. That’s the way the game works.
“If you don’t execute down the stretch, you pay for it.”
The Bulldogs, who shot 57.7 percent in the first half, made only 9 of 25 shots after intermission and missed their last six of the game.
Still, they earned plenty of praise from Howland, once a graduate assistant at GU.
“We beat a great team today,” he said. “As I said going into the game, that was the best team we’ve played all year, with the possible exception of our next opponent, Memphis (which beat the Bruins 88-80 early in the year).
“Gonzaga is terrific. Adam Morrison is special. We feel very fortunate to have pulled out this victory.”
UCLA 73, Gonzaga 71
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| Gonzaga (29-4) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Morrison | 37 | 10-17 | 3-4 | 0-5 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
| Mallon | 13 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Batista | 34 | 6-13 | 6-7 | 4-9 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
| Altidor-Cspds | 16 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Raivio | 32 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| Pargo | 25 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Knight | 13 | 1-5 | 5-6 | 2-3 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Pendergraft | 28 | 2-3 | 3-5 | 0-5 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Heytvelt | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 200 | 24-51 | 20-26 | 11-37 | 14 | 22 | 71 |
Percentages: FG .471, FT .769. 3-Point Goals: 3-10, .300 (Raivio 2-4, Morrison 1-4, Knight 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Mallon, Batista, Pendergraft, Heytvelt). Turnovers: 16 (Mallon 4, Raivio 4, Batista 3, Morrison 2, Altidor-Cespedes, Pargo, Heytvelt). Steals: 3 (Raivio 2, Pendergraft). Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| UCLA (30-6) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Bozeman | 31 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 0-6 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Mbah a Moute | 32 | 5-10 | 4-7 | 5-10 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| Hollins | 30 | 3-5 | 6-6 | 4-8 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Farmar | 33 | 5-13 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| Afflalo | 28 | 5-13 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
| Collison | 20 | 2-6 | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Aboya | 8 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mata | 10 | 0-0 | 3-4 | -11 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Roll | 8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals | 200 | 23-57 | 21-30 | 12-32 | 12 | 22 | 73 |
Percentages: FG .404, FT .700. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Farmar 3-9, Afflalo 2-6, Roll 1-3, Collison 0-1, Bozeman 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 4 (Bozeman, Hollins, Aboya, Mata). Turnovers: 10 (Bozeman 3, Mbah a Moute 3, Farmar 2, Collison 2). Steals: 4 (Farmar 2, Bozeman, Mbah a Moute). Technical Fouls: None.
Halftime–Gonzaga 42, UCLA 29. A–19,596.