INDIANAPOLIS, IN—UCLA suffered a gut-wrenching conclusion to their magical March Madness run as Jalen Suggs banked the shot of a lifetime in at the buzzer, as No. 1 Gonzaga defeated No.11 UCLA Bruins in overtime of the Final Four, 93-90, on Saturday, April 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Bruins Guard Johnny Juzang tied the game with a put back to even the Final Four classic with 3.3 seconds remaining in OT. Unfortunately, Gonzaga passed it to Suggs who dashed across the half-court line- releasing a 30 foot bank shot- making history with a miraculous buzzer beater- immediately jumping on the scorer’s table just as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have done in the past.
This see-saw battle will go down as one of the greatest games in the history of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA Nation is sickened and devastated as this is the end of their season. Gonzaga will face No.1 Baylor Bears on Monday, April 5.
UCLA fought and played with tremendous heart and grit, nearly shocking the undefeated 31-0 Zags. Juzang provided another brilliant performance; never leaving the court with a game high 29 points. He had an opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation. But Bulldogs Drew Timme, on a bang-bang play was knocked down, and Juzang was called for charging forcing the extra five minutes of overtime basketball.
In OT of this thrilling game, Timme was unstoppable, scoring at will in the post. This was a setup to one of the greatest endings in NCAA basketball history. Trailing 90-85, Jaime Jaquez Jr. made a three pointer to pull his team within two, as he pumped his fist in celebration.
After a Bruins stop, Juzang grabbed his own rebound and laid the ball in to even the score at 90.This was followed by the epic, game winning shot by Suggs that will be shown on sports highlight shows for decades to come. Despite the loss, the Bruins can still hold their head high. Congratulations to our UCLA Bruins, the old cliché certainly fits that this was a game that nobody deserved to lose.
