UCLA survives collapse in final minutes to eke out win over Northwestern

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It was a frighteningly familiar tale for UCLA.

From fully locked in and comfortably ahead to being on the verge of collapse.

What had been a 14-point lead over Northwestern with a little more than two minutes left Monday night was down to one with 21 seconds to go after Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau was triple-teamed and called for traveling, eventually leading to a backdoor layup for the Wildcats.

It was another late-game blunder in a series of turnovers, missed free throws and empty possessions that seemed so recognizable.

This was the same scenario that had unfolded earlier this season during losses to North Carolina and Minnesota, as well as victories over Indiana and Oregon that were a lot more harrowing than they needed to be.

Read more: UCLA fades in loss to No. 20 Purdue, complicating path in the Big Ten tournament

What is it about these Bruins that tends to go so wrong in the final minutes?

“My buddy, Scott Van Pelt, likes having us on ‘Bad Beats,’” UCLA coach Mick Cronin cracked in one corner of Welsh-Ryan Arena, alluding to the ESPN segment devoted to epic meltdowns that lead to betting losses. “So I’m trying to get on that show.”

Cronin could joke about the circumstances given the way things turned out. His Bruins shrugged off their self-inflicted misfortune to hold on for a 73-69 victory after another breathless finish.

The critical sequence came after Northwestern fouled UCLA’s Skyy Clark, who made one of two free throws to extend his team’s advantage to two points with 21 seconds remaining.

Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli drove toward the basket before losing the ball as he tried to squeeze between William Kyle III and Eric Dailey Jr., the crowd screaming for a foul that never came. Instead, Kyle grabbed the ball and passed to Kobe Johnson, whose outlet pass to Dailey left the Wildcats no choice but to intentionally foul him with 8.4 seconds left.

Dailey made both free throws and the Bruins (21-9 overall, 12-7 Big Ten) prevailed on a night that it…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/ucla-survives-collapse-final-minutes-041353486.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2025-03-04 04:13:00

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