Michigan Basketball's Run Ends With A 51-49 Loss To UCLA In Elite Eight
No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines basketball fell, 51-49, to No. 11 seed UCLA as a final shot for the win at the buzzer wasn't able to go, ending its Elite Eight run. The Bruins advanced to the Final Four and will take on Gonzaga Saturday.
Below is a recap of how the entire game unfolded.
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First Half
Junior forward Brandon Johns Jr. got Michigan going with a steal and a layup in transition at the 19:08 mark, but the Wolverines were sloppy offensively in the early going after that, missing their next four shots and turning it over three times in the first four minutes. On the other end, UCLA sophomore guard Johnny Juzang, the Bruins' leading scorer who averages 15 points per game, hit a long two from the left corner to tie it up, before sophomore forward Jaime Jaquez got an offensive rebound and laid it in to give UCLA its first lead of the game, 4-2, with 16:06 to go in the half.
Michigan cruised to a 6-0 run from there, highlighted by a freshman center Hunter Dickinson slam off the feed from senior guard Eli Brooks, who knifed inside and through the Bruin defense, and another two in the paint from Dickinson. The Wolverines led, 8-4, at the media timeout with 11:58 left in the half and hit three of their last four shots at that point.
Senior guard Chaundee Brown Jr. made it a 9-0 run by hitting a contested three from the left corner at the 10:47 mark to give the Wolverines an 11-4 edge.
UCLA's six and a half minute scoring drought was snapped by Juzang, who drove in for a layup to make it 11-6 at the 9:28 mark. He then hit two threes in as many Bruin possessions, cutting the Michigan lead to 15-12 at 7:38, at which point U-M head coach Juwan Howard called a timeout to settle his group down.
Juzang kept his hot streak going, making two-pointers at 6:39 and 5:45, at which point he had 14 of UCLA's 16 first-half points.
Michigan went cold offensively and was sloppy with the ball, with eight turnovers in the first 16 minutes of the half. The Wolverines were held scoreless for 2:32 heading into the under-four media timeout at the 3:40 mark.
Jaquez gave UCLA its second lead of the game, 18-17, by hitting two free throws out of the timeout. Michigan sophomore wing Franz Wagner left the game at that point after committing his second foul.
The offense picked up a bit at the end of the half, with UCLA hitting four-straight shots from 3:01 to 1:08 and Michigan hitting three shots during that stretch. The Bruins had a 27-23 lead with 27 seconds to go when UCLA head coach Mick Cronin called a timeout.
Michigan fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith, with the game clock winding down, drove in and drew a foul with 1.2 seconds to go before halftime, but missed both free throws. The Bruins held a 27-23 lead at the break behind an 18-8 run to close things out.
Juzang scored 18 of UCLA's 27 first-half points and was one of just three Bruins to score before halftime. The Wolverines shot 40 percent from the field but just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. They also turned it over nine times in the half, despite giving it away just a tick over 11 times per game entering the night. Johns led the Maize and Blue with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and was the only effective player on the team in the half.
Second Half
UCLA started the half on a 7-2 run, highlighted by Juzang getting fouled by Brooks going up on a three-point attempt. He knocked down all three free throws to give the Bruins their largest lead of the game, 34-25, just two minutes in.
Juzang left the game after rolling his right ankle at the 17:17 mark and limped off before being tended to by the training staff.
Two straight tough twos with the left hand by Dickinson trimmed the lead to 34-29 at the 16:02 mark, giving the Wolverines new life. That run coincided with Smith, who was 0-for-4 from the field to that point, heading to the bench with Brown replacing him.
Michigan made it an 8-0 run, with Brooks driving in and getting two-straight layups to go. Cronin and the Bruins called timeout at the 12:26 mark with their lead trimmed to 34-33. They were on a scoring drought over the last 5:49, before junior forward Cody Riley made a hook shot over Dickinson to make it 36-33, UCLA, just ahead of the 11:22 media timeout. Another Riley bucket out of the timeout made it 38-33.
Michigan then battled back, and Smith, who had struggled and was benched earlier, nailed a three from the top of the key with 7:06 to go, giving the Wolverines their first lead of the half, 43-42. But UCLA answered with a driving layup by sophomore guard Tyger Campbell, who finished over Wagner at 6:31 to retake the lead, 44-43.
Brown's three from the right wing with five and a half minutes to go tied the game at 46-46.
UCLA had a 48-47 lead at the media timeout with 2:26 to play, then a Juzang baseline jumper made it 50-47 with 1:05 to play.
Wagner got fouled driving to the hoop with 44 seconds left and drilled both free throws to make it 50-49, UCLA with the lead. Michigan had three fouls to give and decided to play it out — the Wolverines got a stop, brought it into the front court and called timeout with 19.8 seconds to go and the game's final possession in their hands.
Wagner air-balled a three and Brooks missed the follow-up attempt with 7.1 seconds to go. The Wolverines fouled Juzang, who made both free throws to make it 52-49, on the catch after the inbounds.
Smith got the inbound and raced up the floor, before taking an open three from the left wing. It hit the heel and the rebounded, touched by UCLA, went out of bounds. The Wolverines had 0.5 seconds to go with a baseline out of bounds. Wagner had a three from the left wing that didn't go.
UCLA won the game and advanced to the Final Four, 51-49.
Both teams shot 39 percent from the field on the game. Juzang led all scorers with 28 points, while Dickinson led Michigan with 11 points and was the team's only double-digit scorer.
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