UCLA
31-4
Cincinnati
30-6
UCLA Advances to Sweet 16 with 79-67 Victory
March 19, 2017 | Men's Basketball
SACRAMENTO, Calif. โ 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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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Jarron Cumberland led Cincinnati (30-6) with 15 points.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
