Of all the tilts in Pac-12 tourney play this year, UCLA’s bout with Arizona was easily the most entertaining. And loss be damned, the Bruins showed a resiliency that they are looking to carry into March Madness.
Granted, there is a plethora of criticism around whether or not UCLA “deserved” to punch a ticket to the Big Dance. It will be up to them to dig that resiliency back out if they want to notch a victory over SMU in the 2nd round–and make the haters eat their words.
Sure, the Bruins have history on their side, with a 101-39 tourney record and 18 final four appearances. But critics are already predicting that the Mustangs, who missed out last season after losing their first game in American tournament play, will win in Louisville on March 19. It’s hard to make such a grand assumption–even though bold predictions make up more than half of the March Madness frenzy anyways–when you are to just looking at the numbers. These teams are pretty evenly matched on paper, averaging around 70 points a game.
So why is it then that the assumption is that UCLA can’t compete? Is it nobody believes that they don’t have what it takes to compete with the AAC-leaders?
It isn’t as if the UCLA got completely annihilated by the Wildcats–their conference-leading foe who is predicted to make a very strong showing at the Dance. The Pac-12 semi-final showdown with Arizona featured a back-and-forth battle that stayed neck-and-neck right up to the final few minutes of regulation. Heck, the Bruins’ late push brought them within two points of tying the ‘cats before the conference leader closed it out 70-64.
Warning: Having to claw their way up the score board from too far behind wouldn’t behoove UCLA in the slightest. SMU is good at squashing a late rally, as they did to UConn just a few days ago.
Tip off between SMU and UCLA in the 2nd Round of the March Madness tournament is scheduled for 3:10pm Eastern time.
*Section Photo credit to Stephen Dunn, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Richard Mackson, USA Today Sports
