UCLA survives collapse in final minutes to eke out win over Northwestern
Highlights from UCLA’s 73-69 win over Northwestern on Monday night.
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EVANSTON, Ill. — 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.
Trey Kaufman-Renn sparks Purdue to a 76-66 win that essentially ends UCLA’s chance of a top-four finish in the Big Ten and a double-bye in the conference 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 looked like Aday Mara was going to be the big story.
Entering the game after Bilodeau picked up his third foul early in the second half, Mara changed everything. In a savvy move, Mara’s teammates repeatedly got him the ball near the basket, leading to five consecutive points on a layup, a jump hook and a free throw after the 7-foot-3 sophomore was hacked as a result of the Wildcats being unable to stop him any other way.
“The times they looked at me and they passed me the ball,” Mara said of his teammates, “it was easy because I was under the rim. Just turn and score, get fouled, you know?”
At first, a few pockets of UCLA fans showed their appreciation for the big man.
Then nearly the entire crowd did.
Fans of both teams unleashed audible astonishment when Mara threw down his second dunk.
“When you see a 7-3 guy do that,” Bilodeau said of the murmurs, “it’s great.”
Mara went on to log a double-double in only 16 minutes, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks while making his latest case for more playing time.
The Bruins are 8-0 this season when Aday Mara plays at least 15 minutes, a fact coach Mick Cronin is well aware of.
“When he’s in there, he’s the best offensive player we have,” Cronin said, noting that Mara needed to continue to work on his conditioning because he was exhausted by the time he left the game. “You can’t stop him one on one and he’s our best passer, so get it to him close to the rim and let him do his thing.”
Bilodeau (19 points) sustained his team’s momentum when he returned, grabbing an offensive rebound that led to a jump hook. It was a theme for the Bruins, who grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Northwestern (16-14, 7-12) by 14. A change in how the Bruins defended the pick and roll by better containing the ballhandler helped hold the Wildcats to a point-a-minute pace until the final two minutes.
That’s when the Bruins, leading 68-54, started running a basketball version of the fade route.
Among the lowlights were two bad passes by point guard Dylan Andrews that became turnovers, a Clark shot that was blocked — leading to a dunk at the other end — and a missed front end of a one-and-one free-throw situation by Andrews.
UCLA was still ahead by three points when the Wildcats converged on Bilodeau, who later told Cronin he was trying to heed his advice to call a timeout. Instead, he was called for traveling.
Cronin blamed himself for his players’ failures in the final minutes.
“I think it’s on me — I’ve got to coach them better, at the end of the day,” Cronin said. “You’ve got to get the ball in, you’ve got to be strong with the ball. It was our possession and we had three timeouts, so you have no reason to be in a hurry — just keep calling a timeout or take the jump ball and they don’t do it, I’ve got to coach them better.”
The Bruins are 8-0 this season when Aday Mara plays at least 15 minutes, a fact coach Mick Cronin is well aware of.
Cronin was in a reflective mood afterward, saying his team hasn’t played hard enough defensively for stretches of Big Ten play. With only the crosstown rivalry game left before the conference tournament, Cronin knows that has to change if UCLA wants to get to where it wants to go this month.
“We haven’t been consistent and that’s on me, that’s totally on me,” Cronin said. “It’s my job to try to get us there because if not, we’re going home — everybody that’s not is going home early.”
They were happy to be headed home late Monday, their bus ride to the airport pushing midnight but not their patience after they made the plays they needed.
“Every game, you gotta win by one point,” Mara said with a smile, “so it’s fun.”
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