UCLA Men’s Basketball loses to Gonzaga in OT buzzer beater in NCAA semifinals
We interrupt your regularly scheduled fashion programming to take a minute to talk about UCLA basketball. Unless you’re completely detached from college news, you know that UCLA ruined thousands of brackets across the country when they advanced through the NCAA March Madness tournament all the way to the Final Four. Making the tournament for the first time since 2018, the Bruins had a lot to prove coming from a less-than-perfect 13-6 Pac-12 record.
UCLA after defeating Michigan in the Elite 8 for entry to their first Final Four in 13 years - LA Times via Jamie Squire/Getty Images
While the Bruins had moments of triumph throughout their Pac-12 season, with close wins against Arizona, Utah, Boulder, and Arizona State, they didn’t go without their losses. Playing for their spot in the first round of March Madness in the “First Four” games of the month, UCLA went into the tournament with a lot to prove. Making it to the Sweet Sixteen was an accomplishment in itself, and the Bruins took it even further in being the first UCLA team to make the Final Four since 2008. To make matters even more intense, UCLA was the fifth No. 11 seed to make the Final Four, and only the second team to go from the First Four to the Final Four, according to NCAA.
Cody Riley being blocked by Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs in the Final Four - ESPN via Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Although they experienced an absolutely gut-wrenching and heartbreaking loss on Saturday, with Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs’ buzzer beater three-pointer erasing UCLA’s Johnny Juzang’s attempt to tie it to enter a second overtime, that does not take away from the fact that the Bruins encompassed everything about the UCLA tradition in their tournament run. After defeating No. 2 seeded Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen and No. 1 seeded Michigan in the Elite Eight, the team entered the national semifinals as the “biggest underdogs in modern Final Four history.” Regardless, the Bruins kept undefeated No. 1 seed Gonzaga on their toes throughout the entire game and into overtime, with many calling this Gonzaga’s toughest test yet.
UCLA guard Johnny Juzang after making a basket in the first half of the Final Four - LA Times via Darron Cummings/Associated Press
It is clear that this team took the legendary John Wooden’s advice to “make each day [their] masterpiece” to heart. Every day spent in this tournament was another day of hard work, proving thousands wrong, and making history, ensuring that this season will go down in history and that the Bruins will stay on everyone’s radar for the 2022 season. While a national win is always the goal, this team put a previously struggling UCLA basketball program back on the map, returning the team to Wooden-era status. They left the court on Saturday composed with their heads held high, honoring alumni Bill Walton’s statement that they’re “already champions” for the sole fact that they represent UCLA.
UCLA guard Tyler Campbell facing Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs in the Final Four - LA Times via Darron Cummings/Associated Press
On a more personal note, I’m sure many others can agree with me when I say that this tournament run gave me a newfound sense of school spirit that I felt out of touch with since leaving campus last March. It is easy to forget the legacy of UCLA as an institution when taking classes through a computer and not walking the campus every day, but this tournament and this team brought a new life to my relationship with UCLA, something that is extremely important to me as I enter my last quarter at this school.
via @uclambb on Instagram, after their win against Michigan to enter the Final Four
This tournament run will certainly go down in history, and although I wish we had gone on to win it all, I’m extremely proud of the work the team put in, and as always, I am proud to be a Bruin.
Cassidy Sollazzo