UCLA Men's Basketball Secures Sweet 16 Spot With NCAA Tournament Win Over St. Mary's

The Bruins are headed back to the Sweet 16.

No. 4 seed UCLA men's basketball (27-7, 15-5 Pac-12) ran away from No. 5 seed St. Mary's (26-8, 12-3 WCC) to secure the 72-56 victory in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. The Bruins took a beating in the showdown, as was expected with the physical and methodically-paced Gaels, and that resulted in a close contest through the midpoint of the second half.

UCLA still managed to punch a ticket to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row and the fifth time in the last eight tournaments. When they get to Philadelphia, they'll be playing No. 8 seed North Carolina, who took down No. 1 seed Baylor earlier Saturday.

While the Bruins didn't have to go to overtime like the Tar Heels did, they did suffer a major bump in the road at a key point against the Gaels.

With seven minutes to go, UCLA led by eight and forced St. Mary's into yet another miss, but guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. twisted his right ankle when the ball was airborne and he was forced out of the game. Jaquez had hurt both of his ankles on multiple occasions this season, but this one proved too much to return from in the moment.

Jaquez earned a standing ovation on his way down the tunnel, and when he returned to the bench to watch the rest of the game through tearful eyes, the Bruins were up by 11.

Forward Cody Riley powered through for an and-1, then guards Johnny Juzang and Tyger Campbell combined for three perfect trips to the line to make it a 15-point contest. And just as the clock was approaching the two-minute mark, Riley – who had hit just three 3-pointers over the past three seasons – sank a triple with the shot clock expiring to ice the win.

That helped make it a near-blowout win for UCLA, at least looking at the scoreboard. Following a close win over No. 13 seed Akron on Thursday and a gritty opening 30 minutes Saturday, cruising to a win was a notable change of pace for the blue and gold.

Jaquez was the Bruins' entire offense early on, working down low in the post and scoring his team's first seven points in the process. Through five minutes, that was enough to match the Gaels' seven points on the other end, but then coach Mick Cronin's defense started to get stretched thin.

Riley got the start on the block. After he let up a few layups from St. Mary's guards, Cronin put in center Myles Johnson and switched to a zone defense.

That strategic decision lasted one possession, which the Gaels scored a 3 on, and then they hit two more triples when the Bruins got mixed up on switches and failed to close out. Johnson had dominated Riley in the plus/minus category over the past few weeks, but he was unable to provide his typical defensive spark early on Saturday.

UCLA did not have a single block, steal or deflection through the first eight-plus minutes.

Guard Jules Bernard was the first non-Jaquez player to score for the Bruins more than seven minutes into the contest, and Riley got a bucket of his own after coming back in for Johnson. Jaquez scored on another post hook a minute later to bring the gap down to three, and he got back in on the action with a fast break layup and post hook to eventually get it down to one.

Bernard was the one who put UCLA ahead for the first time all night, as Jaquez kicked out to him for what turned into a step-back 3.

The Bruins' defense kept that lead alive by holding the Gaels without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. In that span, St. Mary's had four turnovers and missed 12 consecutive shots.

UCLA had reestablished its defense, making switches more confidently as guard Jaylen Clark and guard/forward Peyton Watson entered the game. The long underclassmen disrupted passing lanes and held their own in the post, forcing missed layup after missed layup without needing Riley to double the way Johnson did early.

The Bruins were swarming to the ball, and even Juzang was ruffling some feathers on the defensive end.

Campbell and Watson each hit midrange jumpers and Juzang hit a floater to make it a 13-0 run. There was some back-and-forth action in the final few minutes of the opening period, which ended with Campbell drawing a foul before the buzzer and hitting both attempts to make it 36-29 UCLA at the half.

St. Mary's looked to stage a comeback as the second period got going, and that's exactly what they did. While the Bruins only had two points in the first five minutes of the half, the Gaels got a pair of 3s and a layup to cut the lead to one.

UCLA started hitting its jumpers to stay ahead, though, with Bernard and Juzang trading off with big runs. Bernard hit two 3s in 90 seconds, while Juzang hit four shots in a row to put the Bruins up 10.

From that point on, even after Jaquez's injury, UCLA led by double digits for all but a few seconds.

Four Bruins finished in double figures, and Riley was close to making it five with his nine points. The bench only accounted for four points, but those five starters shot 55.8% from the field with 68 points, 22 rebounds and 13 assists.