Bruins fail to catch up to Gators in bitter Sweet 16 loss

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After a sobering 40 minutes on the floor of FedExForum and before a rush of media questions, UCLA’s locker room was, for a moment, silent.

Maybe the hush was the result of UCLA tasting its worst loss of the season, coming within a few made jumpers of dethroning Florida, the nation’s best team since December. Maybe it was because they couldn’t right the Bruins’ recent history of shortcomings against the Gators and prove elite enough for the Elite Eight.

Maybe, in their contemplating a 79-68 loss in the South regional semifinals, the Bruins just didn’t have the words to express the way they exited the NCAA tournament.

On March 8, the Bruins had the same pit in their stomachs after a loss to the Washington State Cougars too ugly for any reasonable mother to love. But that UCLA team was frustrated. It was confused and still looking for answers.

Three weeks later, the Bruins’ disappointment came with an entirely new vocabulary. No. 4 seed UCLA fought Florida for 40 minutes, made a run to bring the Gators within striking distance, and still trailed. The Bruins never quit and they never let up. They threw every advantage they had at Florida and still wound up behind. More than anything, UCLA was spent.

After five straight wins, including an upset win over Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament title game two weekends ago, the Bruins didn’t lose the sixth game. It wasn’t about wanting it more or putting forth effort, as it was to close out the Pac-12 regular season. UCLA was simply beaten by a better, more experienced Florida team. Maybe it was knowing that that made the silence so painful.

“We knew this team wasn’t going to quit,” said junior guard Norman Powell. “We knew this team wasn’t going to stop when we made runs. They’ve been to four Sweet 16s in a row. They were just the better team today.”

With 11:44 remaining, UCLA reached its breaking point, trailing Florida by eight points after a layup from Florida freshman point guard Kasey Hill. Less than two minutes later, a three-point play followed by a jumper from sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson cut the lead to six. Powell charged to the basket for an easy lay-in on UCLA’s next possession, and the Bruins cut the Gators’ advantage to 56-55.

UCLA was within one possession and red hot, a spot they’ve relished all season long. All they needed was a stop or a Florida turnover, followed by a bucket, a lead, one big stomp on the gas pedal and a casual glance in the rearview mirror.

Instead, the score stayed 58-55 for well over two minutes. It was UCLA’s moment to seize the game, and the Bruins seized up.

“As a trend, I think whenever we’ve gone on runs like that we’ve been able to get past teams and put them in our rearview,” said redshirt senior forward Travis Wear. “To look up and still realize we’re still down after having the momentum shift our way – it was a little tough to handle. We just couldn’t really hit shots that we would normally make.”

Florida hit what it needed, and that was the difference. Memories of past Gator greats like Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah and their past successes against UCLA resurfaced en masse this week, but it was current Florida guard Michael Frazier II that the Bruins would care to forget.

The sophomore sharpshooter nailed five of his first six 3-point attempts. He even threw down a dunk with 26 seconds remaining to deepen UCLA’s already salty battle wounds. While the No. 1 seed Gators (35-2) contested nearly all of the Bruins’ field goal attempts, Florida’s shooting and the poise of its seniors, who will play in their fourth straight Elite Eight on Saturday, were no contest.

“I really appreciate what the players were able to do and accomplish this year,” said coach Steve Alford. “We know we’re bowing out of this tournament, and we just got beat by an outstanding team.”

After 40 minutes of hard-fought Sweet 16 basketball, the Bruins (28-9) finally got the answer they sought three weeks ago. But it was far from what they wanted to hear.