LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For about nine minutes, UCLA’s season looked dead. Bryce Alford somehow powered it back to life.
In a wild 60-59 win against sixth-seeded SMU on Thursday afternoon, the Bruins took a 10-point lead in the second half, gave up 19 unanswered points — and then survived on a flurry of 3-pointers by their sophomore point guard.
Alford scored a game-high 27 points, hitting an absurd 9 of 11 on 3-point attempts. He had four treys in the final four minutes — and didn’t even technically sink the one that counted the most.
With 13 seconds left, Alford launched a shot from the left arc, one that looked on track to hit the front of the rim. But SMU big man Yanick Moreira jumped up and tipped the shot too early. He was called for goaltending, and the points counted.
The Mustangs had a chance to come back, but point guard Nic Moore missed back-to-back attempts from beyond the arc. The clock expired, and the Bruins mobbed Alford at midcourt.
The Bruins will play No. 14-seed UAB on Saturday. Now, the only thing separating them from a second straight Sweet 16 run is a team they beat by 12 back in November.
UCLA had entered the KFC Yum! Center this week with plenty of extra fuel. The team’s very inclusion into the NCAA Tournament field had been surprising, sending national analysts into a tizzy. “UCLA safely in is a joke to me,” shouted CBS’ Doug Gottlieb, perhaps the most irate of all the pundits.
But once the shock wore off, the team didn’t look too bad on paper. It was a slight underdog against sixth-seeded SMU, but this was round-of-64 draw that had looked as winnable as any matchup the Bruins could have hoped for. The Mustangs had a deep frontcourt, but so did Arizona — a No. 2 that UCLA held its own against in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinal.
Through the first half, the Bruins again acquitted themselves nicely, taking a 34-30 lead over SMU. UCLA coughed up three turnovers in the first two minutes, but found some rhythm and took an early 10-5 lead at the first media timeout. It gave up three 3-pointers to SMU — a team that averages 4.18 made treys per game — in the first seven minutes, but held the Mustangs to 34 percent from the field in the first half.
Even center Tony Parker’s early fouls weren’t a major factor. The junior picked up two in and was limited to six minutes on the court before the break, but freshman Thomas Welsh did well in his place: the 7-footer had two points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the first half. Welsh hadn’t grabbed that many rebounds in a full game since Jan. 24.
UCLA hounded SMU to start the second half, holding the team scoreless for more than five minutes and pushing out a 10-point lead.
The Mustangs couldn’t put anything in the basket until Markus Kennedy hit a pair of free throws at the 16:30 mark. They shot 1 of 12 to open the period, finally hitting a second when point guard Nic Moore drained 3-pointer with 9:27 on the clock.
But the Bruins didn’t take advantage of the Mustangs’ rut, falling into a scoring drought of their own for nearly nine minutes. SMU quickly converted a couple of UCLA turnovers — Moore hit another three, Ryan Manuel flushed in a fast-break slam — and Larry Brown’s team was back within one point with eight minutes left.
A minute later, Moore drilled another 3-pointer and SMU took a 47-44 lead.
SMU eventually scored 19 unanswered points, a run that finally ended when Norman Powell hit a layup with 4:16 left on the clock. Then, Alford put on his cape.