The Michigan Wolverines’ basketball team was a popular pick to make the Elite Eight when fans filled out their NCAA Tournament brackets prior to the start of the Big Dance, though the opponent was expected by most to be either No. 2-seeded Alabama or No. 3-seeded Texas.
It’s the UCLA Bruins instead, who knocked out Michigan State in a first four play-in game before taking down BYU and Abilene Christian in the first and second round, respectively, and then finally Alabama in the Sweet 16.
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This is the Bruins’ first Elite Eight appearance since 2008, which is an exceptionally long drought for one of the most storied programs in college basketball history. UCLA is viewed as a clear underdog against No. 1-seeded Michigan, though it was against the Crimson Tide Sunday night as well and still managed to get the job done in an overtime thriller.
“We just have to go in focused on the opponent, whether they’re a lower or higher seed,” junior guard Jules Bernard — who averages 10.7 points and 5.0 boards per game — told the media. “We’ll play them the same way we’ve been playing throughout the Tournament.
“There’s a lot of history behind both teams, but at the end of the day, it’s still just two teams on one court and whoever plays better will win. We’re not focused on that [historical] stuff, but on what we need to do to win — playing hard and with passion and heart.
“Let the results fall where they may.”
Bernard nevertheless admitted it would be special to lead the Bruins back to the Final Four, a place they haven’t been since 2008. Final Four appearances were commonplace for UCLA in those years (made three straight from 2006-08), though the current drought is the longest the program has suffered through since it failed to make it every year from 1981 through 1994.
“When we were kids and even when we signed with UCLA, we came here because of the winning history and culture,” Bernard explained. “We came here to win titles because that’s the history of this program.
“To be a part of it [a trip to the Final Four] would be absolutely amazing.”
It won’t be easy for Bernard and the Bruins, however, who will need to take down a red-hot Michigan club tonight if they hope to do so. After handling Texas Southern in the first round and scraping by LSU in the second round, U-M put the pedal to the metal against No. 4-seeded Florida State in the Sweet 16 and ran the Seminoles out of the gym, 76-58.
The Wolverines are adapting to life without injured senior forward Isaiah Livers better than most expected, and as a result are once again resembling the dominant team we saw throughout the first two-and-a-half months of the regular season.
There isn’t much familiarity between the Maize and Blue and Bruins, who obviously didn’t expect their paths to cross this season.
“Whenever we have free time to watch, we’ve watched a little bit of Michigan,” Bernard said. “I watched a little bit of them yesterday and saw some of their highlights. I also caught some of their games throughout the season.
“Michigan has physical players and they execute. They have size in the post and good guard play, so it’ll be a good game.”
U-M has excelled at a high level in nearly every phase of the game this season (offensively, defensively, three-point shooting, free throw shooting, etc.), and as a result has unsurprisingly held significant advantages in the aforementioned areas against most of the opponents it has gone up against.
Bernard made it clear he wasn’t going to give away head coach Mick Cronin’s plan of attack against Juwan Howard’s crew this evening, but did single out a few areas he thinks his team will need to excel in against U-M if the Bruins hope to come out on top.
“Michigan is a great defensive team, so we’ll have to move the ball and make them work on defense,” he analyzed. “They have a lot of talent on offense as well. If we win the boards and get out in transition, I think that could really help us a lot.”
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