INDIANAPOLIS – There will be time for BYU basketball to reflect on the magic of the 2020-21 season, from the team’s first NCAA tournament bid since 2015 and a return to the Big Dance popularly known as ‘March Madness’, the biggest spectacle in North American sports.
That time will come.
But it was not Saturday night at the historic Hinkle Fielddhouse.
Johnny Juzang, who played on a wobbly ankle, threw in 27 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists as UCLA won its second game in three nights with a resounding 73-62 victory over BYU, making the Cougars’ first tournament appearance since 2015 after just one game.
A year after a win over an almost identical UCLA team at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii, the Cougars could not ride the same wave to win.
Alex Barcello led BYU with 20 points and five rebounds, and Brandon Averette, senior senior, scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half for the Cougars, who trailed by 11 at halftime and were never permanently ahead.
Matt Haarms delivered 11 points, 10 rebounds and two touchdowns for BYU (20-7).
“There are a lot of feelings right now,” an emotional Haarms said over a Zoom microphone in the tunnels under Indianapolis court. “It was my university career … it’s just very struggling and going out like that in the first round.”
After falling behind early, BYU trailed and never caught up with the Pac-12’s sprinting Browns – which advanced five teams to the Round of 32, including the win Oregon won without the virus-infested VCU game.
For UCLA, the joy of a March run continues. For BYU, the suffering of defeat.
“That’s what we live for. It’s the highlight of college basketball and playing for the Bruins – I’m from Los Angeles – we’re all brothers,” said Juzang, a product at Tarzana’s Harvard-Westlake High School. California. “To play for the home team and make everyone in the team proud and everyone in the stands, it’s a great feeling to bring home the UCLA Bruins victories.”
The highlights on one side of the court, and the lowest feeling in BYU history over the past five years. Welcome to March.
Offensively, there were too many shots BYU usually makes that did not go on Saturday night: Haarms’ hook shot, Barcello’s bouncer. The Cougars shot 10 more free throws than UCLA, but only made 7-of-13 from the charity streak, while the Browns sat at 3-of-3 before the final four minutes.
BYU shot 49% from the field, but only made 3-of-17 from the 3-point range – including an uncharacteristic 1-of-7 in the second half – and only made 9-of-16 free throws.
“Obviously we did not shoot the ball well from the 3-point line or from the free-throw line,” BYU coach Mark Pope said, matching the emotion of his senior point guard Averette as he left court with his face buried in his white sweater with the words “Brigham” on the front. ‘Thank you UCLA for that. They had us on our heels for much of the first half.
“It happens sometimes. We were able to overcome such nights before this season. We just did not overcome it tonight. Sometimes there will be nights where you do not shoot the ball well. We have answers; we can still win games. We just did not do it tonight. ‘
It happens, but not by accident.
“What we wanted to do tonight was not give up a bunch of tries,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. The team has won rugby games for the first time since concluding a Feb. 25 run on Feb. 25 against Utah. “A team like BYU, the three-point shot is their fuel.”
BYU looked like a team that hadn’t played under the bright lights of the NCAA Tournament in nearly six years – which, to be honest, last reached the highest field of 68 in college basketball in 2015.
BYU missed their first six shots, after which Barcello took the lid out of the basket with a 3-pointer with 16:10 left in the half. The cougars controlled the glass early and did not give UCLA an offensive setback for almost six minutes, but BYU never took the lead in the first half.
In 40 minutes of play, BYU never took the lead. The Browns stayed just 55 seconds ahead on the scoreboard.
UCLA shot 15-out-31 in the first half of the field, including 6-out-10 from the three-point series, scoring 11 points from seven turnovers.
Just two nights after leaving the Bruins’ first four games against Michigan State with a right ankle injury, Juzang included 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first half, including three three-pointers, for a UCLA team which held BYU. to just two shots on 11 field goals.
“The first half was a struggle for us because of Juzang and the way he played,” Haarms said. “We could not execute our game plan.
“In the second half we clawed it up to five again, and then they pushed it back to 11. We just couldn’t claw it against them again if it mattered.”
The Cougars used 9-0 to reduce the deficit as low as four, 43-39 in the second half, which kept the Bruins scoreless on five consecutive possessions over a team of 3:18. But UCLA responded with a 7-2 result of its own and moved the lead back to 11 midway through the second half.
BYU found that in the second half he was recording shoes to hang at UCLA.
Stopping the Browns was another problem. It was especially tricky to stop Juzang, but UCLA then added Jaquez and Jules Bernard (16 points, five rebounds) while outsourcing the BYU bench 13-7.
Apart from the three seniors, Caleb Lohner had the most significant night with 6 points and 10 rebounds. But the rookie from Wasatch Academy was also hampered by four offenses.
“It’s a game. It’s March. It’s happening,” Pope said. ‘But UCLA recognizes; they played great, and we just couldn’t get over the hill. ‘