UCLA
31-4
Cincinnati
30-6
UCLA Advances to Sweet 16 with 79-67 Victory
March 19, 2017 | Men's Basketball
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – No. 3-seed UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons with a 79-67 win over No. 6-seed Cincinnati on Sunday night.
Lonzo Ball led five Bruins in double figures on Sunday evening, totaling 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Ball also added nine assists (all in the second half) and seven rebounds.
The Bruins (31-4) will take on No. 2-seed Kentucky in a semifinal of the South Regional in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, March 24. Game time at FedExForum is slated for 6:40 pm PT (8:40 pm MT).
Bryce Alford finished with 16 points, scoring 13 in the second half. TJ Leaf and Thomas Welsh each tallied 11 points and seven rebounds, while Isaac Hamilton scored 10 points.
Jarron Cumberland led Cincinnati (30-6) with 15 points.
UCLA shot a blistering 63.3% from the field in the second half to overcome a 33-30 halftime deficit and secure the program's sixth trip to the Sweet 16 in the last 12 seasons.
The Bruins finished the game having shot 50 percent overall after registering a season-low three turnovers. UCLA used quick scoring runs to overwhelm the Bearcats in the second half. The Bruins ran off nine unanswered points in just over a minute to claim a 55-47 lead with 12:28 to play. Ball hit back-to-back long three-pointers, and Alford added one of his own to force a Bearcat timeout.
Up by just five points, 57-52, with over 10 minutes to play, the Bruins used another one-minute run to score seven quick points. Alford hit another three, Ike Anigbogu led a fast break with a block and dunk, and Ball scored on a layup with 9:10 remaining to increase the Bruins' lead to 12 points (64-52).
Cincinnati reduced the Bruins' margin to as few as seven points with 4:28 to play on back-to-back jumpers by Cumberland, but UCLA deflated the Bearcats with back-to-back dunks by Leaf that pushed the Bruin lead to 11 points (74-63) with 2:59 to play.
In the first half, the Bearcats used a 12-0 run to turn an 8-2 deficit into a 14-8 lead. Cincinnati maintained the lead for the next 11 minutes until a Ball deep three-pointer with 3:09 to play gave UCLA a 27-26 lead, but the Bearcats nabbed the halftime lead, 33-30, on a floater by Troy Caupain with five seconds left.
