I’ve had more than a few near-death experiences.
There’s the time I almost fell off the 3-foot-high branch on a tree in my backyard when I was 6.

UCLA freshman forward Kevon Looney will declare for the 2015 NBA draft, UCLA Athletics announced Monday.
In his one season at UCLA, Looney averaged 11.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and was awarded second-team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman team honors.

Losing in the NCAA Tournament always comes with a strange set of emotions.
There’s the sorrow, of course, that pervades everything. The emptiness of a season’s or career’s end and the regret of missed opportunities.

HOUSTON — As the final seconds ticked off the clock at NRG Stadium Friday night, Norman Powell’s face disappeared behind a towel.
Sitting on the bench for one last time as a Bruin, the senior guard shrouded his face behind the cloth as he tried to regain his composure.

HOUSTON — Well what do you know, another rematch.
After dispatching No. 14-seeded UAB in the Round of 32, No. 11 UCLA’s reward is a Sweet 16 matchup with No.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When Steve Alford walked off the court at the KFC Yum! Center Saturday, he may have felt the need to pinch himself.
Because surely, UCLA’s performance in its 92-75 win over the University of Alabama-Birmingham was the stuff of dreams.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When UCLA and the University of Alabama-Birmingham squared off in the consolation game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas on Nov.

The basketball gods have a tender place in their hearts for UCLA.
It’s the only logical explanation.
Because nothing about UCLA’s illogical 60-59 comeback win over Southern Methodist University in the second round of the NCAA Tournament made much sense.

After Friday’s near-upset of Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, UCLA lamented its small mistakes in the game, surely wanting another crack at its conference rival.

For the casual observer, it can be easy to miss what makes freshman forward Kevon Looney arguably UCLA’s best player – one that is a lock to be a lottery pick in the 2015 NBA draft, should he declare.