Not the way Nancy Drew it up — UCLA shows incredible spirit and heart, fighting back from 16 down in the final minutes, but with a chance to win it with 5 seconds left, a Turnover costs them the victory in their last game in Pauley, and deepens the mystery of why this team continues to underachieve
Forget Nancy Drew — The Bruins could have used Larry Drew II, the former UCLA Point Guard with the historic Assist-to-Turnover ratio, in the final seconds of the game on Saturday. After dramatically and unimaginably coming back from a 16-point deficit in the last 6 minutes against Oregon State, the Bruins had the ball, down by only 2, with 5 seconds left, when the Beavers separated the ball from Aaron Holiday, ending UCLA’s herculean effort at a miracle comeback win.
The burden fell squarely on Holiday because Bryce Alford, who might have been helpful in that last-second situation, was in the locker room after getting injured a few minutes earlier. Bryce’s absence made the comeback even more implausible, but the rest of the team picked up the slack, with Isaac Hamilton sinking the three-pointer to cut the lead to 1 in the last minute. But thanks to the Turnover, the effort was all for naught.
The Bruins now go into the Pac-12 Tournament on a losing streak, and they need to win the Tournament in order to Dance in March Madness — The longest of long shots. Of course, if they play like they did from the 5 minute mark to the 5 second mark, anything is possible.
Here are 3 more Cheerleader photos from Saturday, to hold you until tomorrow, when I will post some more photos from the game, and dozens more of the illustrious UCLA Spirit Squad, in their bittersweet MBB Pauley Pavilion Swan Song.
