University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
21-12
St. Bonaventure
26-7
UCLA Falls to St. Bonaventure in Dayton, 65-58
March 13, 2018 | Men's Basketball
DAYTON, Ohio โ Aaron Holiday scored a game-high 20 points, while Prince Ali added 13 points as No. 11-seed UCLA lost to No. 11-seed St. Bonaventure, 65-58, in a First Four matchup of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
ย
Holiday led UCLA (21-12) with 20 points, making 7 of 17 shots, before a near-capacity crowd of 12,336 at the University of Dayton Arena. Ali made a pair of three-pointers, including a critical three-pointer with under three minutes to play, and shot 50 percent (5-for-10) from the field.
ย
Courtney Stockard led St. Bonaventure (26-7) with 26 points, while Matt Mobley totaled 14 points and LaDarien Griffin added 10.
ย
UCLA finished the game having committed a season-high-tying 20 turnovers, but won the rebounding advantage against the Bonnies, 41-31.
ย
"We've been a team over the last month that's really handled the ball well," said Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "And today, we had we had a lot of live-ball errant passes that I think was the difference in the game [being] 30 to three in points off turnovers. That's hard to overcome especially in an NCAA game, when you give up that many points, and it takes that away from your offense."
ย
The Bruins trailed St. Bonaventure, 58-51, with four minutes to play in the second half. UCLA used a 7-0 scoring run to tie game at 58-58. A runner in the lane by Holiday and a three-point basket from the corner by Ali reduced UCLA's deficit to 58-56. After both teams had defensive stops, Holiday made a pair of free throws with 1:11 to play, tying the score, 58-58.
ย
St. Bonaventure pulled away from the Bruins in the game's final minute. Jaylen Adams made a jump shot with 48 seconds to go and the Bonnies made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
ย
UCLA entered the locker room at halftime, trailing by a 28-23 margin.
ย
In the second half, the Bruins tied the contest by using a 7-0 scoring run around the 16-minute mark. UCLA twice pushed its second-half advantage to five points, leading 49-44 and later, 51-46, with just over seven minutes to play. St. Bonaventure used a 12-0 run to take a 58-51 lead before UCLA battled back.
ย
Early in the game, UCLA pushed ahead 17-9 with 14:04 left in the opening half. The Bonnies responded with a strong defensive effort, limiting UCLA to just three points in the final 10 minutes of the half. St. Bonaventure tied the contest, 17-17, with 11:22 to play after a dunk by Griffin.
ย
The Bonnies took their first lead of the game with 4:52 to play after Stockard made a free throw, putting St. Bonaventure on top, 23-22, on the midst of a 7-0 scoring run. Idris Taggee pushed St. Bonaventure ahead by five points, hitting a jump shot from the elbow in the first possession of the first half.
ย
UCLA shot 42 percent from the floor (21-for-50) and 33 percent (10-for-30) from 3-point range, while St. Bonaventure finished the game shooting 38 percent from the field (23-for-60) and just 21 percent (4-for-19) from behind the arc.
ย
Tuesday's game marked the Bruins' 49th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the program's 11th trip to the national tournament in the last 14 seasons.
ย
With the win against UCLA, St. Bonaventure will travel to Dallas to face No. 6-seed Florida (20-12) in a first-round meeting of the NCAA Tournament this Thursday evening.
