Amid yet another year of starkly different trajectories for No. 1 seed UCLA women’s basketball and No. 7 seed UCLA men’s basketball, one thing stood out – both squads share a susceptibility to specific pressure points. In “March Under Pressure,” assistant Sports editor Sabrina Messiha and Sports editor Ira Gorawara dissect the precise vulnerabilities threatening to derail both teams’ postseason dreams. By pinpointing where each team tends to crumble, this deep dive lays bare the challenges each team must overcome to avoid heartbreak when the spotlight is the brightest: under March’s mayhem.

Battles with Bruising

When Lauren Betts was out with an injury during her sophomore campaign, UCLA succumbed to its third and fourth losses of the season, including against the now-junior center’s previous school, Stanford, in a game former Bruin guard alumnus Charisma Osborne labeled “embarrassing.” While Betts’ injury this season lasted only one game, as she was benched with a bruised right foot against Michigan State, her absence made a clear impact on the team’s scoring in the paint. Reeling from Betts’ sidelining and their first loss of the season to the Trojans, the Bruins faced six lead changes and 11 tie scores against the Spartans – a performance the Bruin faithful were not accustomed to. Coach Cori Close said the team talked about not relying on talent, and while it was able to survive Michigan State 75-69, the Bruins couldn’t seem to fill Betts’ gap on the court. Rather, the team allowed the Spartans to put up 40 points in the key. While junior forwards Janiah Barker and Timea Gardiner helped fill some of Betts’ production with team highs of 18 points each, the 6-foot-7 center’s absence was palpable. A deep postseason run can’t be done with injuries or a single player’s absence derailing the entire team – depth and toughness will be at the forefront as the margin for error shrinks in March.

– Sabrina Messiha

Free Fall at the Line

It’s become a familiar, agonizing sight: A member of UCLA men’s basketball earns a ticket to the charity stripe with a chance to earn a pair of freebies. But the team’s erratic performance at the charity stripe – especially in the crunch – has proven itself to be a crippling Achilles heel. Wide-open opportunities have crumbled into nerve-ridden toss-ups and even 17-point collapses – as was seen Feb. 18 against Minnesota. It was then that the team’s glaring deficiency became a routine topic of concern. Coach Mick Cronin controversially pointed fingers at his home fans after his players went 9-for-19 from the line against the Golden Gophers, but the stats have spoken clearly. UCLA is the third-worst free throw shooting team in the Big Ten at 70.3%, as down-to-the-wire matchups such as those against Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina have witnessed catastrophic implosions at the foul line. Right now, the Bruins can get away with brick-laying and still walk out victors against lackluster competition. But in March, there are no safety nets. The only way through is to control the controllables. And few things are more controllable than an open look from 10 feet – so there’s no good reason to treat it like a half-court heave.

– Ira Gorawara

Fortifying the Focus

The “mind gym” – training focused on confidence and mental conditioning – has become a staple in the Bruins’ locker room, allowing for the team to work on its mental game along with its physical skill. Betts’ four-game mental health break last season coincided with the Bruins’ third and fourth losses, including one against Betts’ old school, Stanford. But the Bruins have appeared far more resilient and flexible, best evidenced by a team-only meeting led by junior guard Kiki Rice and junior forward Gabriela Jaquez after UCLA’s second straight regular-season loss to USC. The meeting facilitated tough conversations between players, and it translated to their valiant fourth-quarter effort to beat the Trojans in the Big Ten tournament championship. Despite fears that UCLA would fall into a feedback loop of losing to USC, Rice and Jaquez helped their squad emerge from the cycle with a conference trophy in hand. But falling back into the loop can be easy, so the Bruins must remain resilient as they enter the NCAA tournament.

– Sabrina Messiha

The Heat of Cronin’s Flame

Cronin is notorious for his impassioned tenacity, patrolling the sidelines like a storm cloud soon to burst. His animated demands echo louder as the clock winds down, and his fire has fueled countless gritty wins. It’s done the trick in helping flip the Bruins’ season when they needed it most, but there’s a dangerous flip side that can’t be ignored. Fire provides warmth, but left unchecked, it can consume. And with the highest stakes, clarity and composure separate contenders from casualties. UCLA can’t afford to mirror its coach’s frenzy. Cronin’s explosive nature has proven counterproductive, as it has sent the Bruins into a spiral rather than toward coherence. And in a tournament where the margin for error is razor-thin, that volatility will become an even greater weakness that opponents can press. The head honcho has pointed the finger at virtually anyone he’s been able to so far – players, staff, fans and even, most recently, reporters. He’s routinely displayed a shameless and hot-tempered frustration that may be poised to morph into a team unraveling. This fire turning into an inferno is almost sure to burn the Bruins out when it matters most, unless Cronin can hit the balance between fire and focus, and urgency and composure.

– Ira Gorawara

The Rivalry That Never Ends

The rivalry game often ignores rankings, skills and expectations. And the stakes only rose in women’s basketball, where the Los Angeles crosstown foes were ranked within the nation’s top 10 for the entirety of this season. But it was the Bruins who first collapsed under the pressure of the rivalry. Betts, who averages 19.6 points per game, was limited to 11 points in the home rendition of the match as UCLA yielded the Big Ten regular season title to USC. But while the Bruins fell to the Trojans twice during the regular season – once away and once at home – they proved in the postseason that they can in fact get the better of the cardinal and gold. And with the chance of a fourth matchup in the Final Four, UCLA will need to stay composed in the face of a pressure-packed game that almost promises to draw the spotlight in March. While the Bruins have the skill to trample the Trojans, the rivalry fuels players – particularly USC star guard JuJu Watkins – to be on their A-game.

– Sabrina Messiha

Cracks in the Fortress

Lockdown defense has been a signature of every Cronin-led roster since he set foot in Westwood. It’s in his coaching DNA – and thereby woven into each of his Bruin squads. But this strength, while mostly managing to suffocate opponents, has simultaneously shown alarming vulnerabilities when confronted by exceptional threats. Elite perimeter sharpshooters and imposing figures in the paint have forced UCLA’s defense to falter and reveal exploitable gaps. Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers each put up at least 30 points in the paint – largely thanks to the Wolverines’ 7-foot-1, 250-pound center Vladislav Goldin; the Terrapins’ 6-foot-9, 252-pound forward Julian Reese and 6-foot-10, 246-pound center Derik Queen; and the Scarlet Knights’ 6-foot-10, 200-pound guard Ace Bailey. And the Bruins’ difficulty defending the arc was ever so noticeable Friday against Wisconsin, which tallied off 19 3s for a Big Ten tournament-tying record. Addressing the Bruins’ fragility – whether through a sharper pregame defensive scout or a stronger commitment to executing it – is crucial to surviving March’s unforgiving gauntlet, where opponents remain unknown till the 11th hour. Otherwise, UCLA will risk watching its championship dreams unravel at the hands of teams built to exploit the Bruins’ rare, but costly, defensive lapses.

– Ira Gorawara