OJAI, CALIFORNIA – Momentum is a fragile thing.

For the Bruins, it showed up a day early – then disappeared when it mattered most.

No. 5 seed UCLA men’s tennis (17-7, 10-3 Big Ten) fell 4-2 to No. 1 seed Michigan State (17-8, 12-1) in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal in Ojai, California, ending UCLA’s conference title run Friday. The Bruins entered into the match with momentum from their 4-0 sweep over No. 4 seed USC just a day earlier.

[Related: Tripathi-led surge sends men’s tennis past USC in Big Ten quarterfinal]

And during doubles play, it looked like UCLA might carry the energy from Thursday forward.

Junior Spencer Johnson and freshman Bengt Reinhard broke serve to take a 5-3 lead before closing out their match 6-3. Moments later, redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels and senior Gianluca Ballotta followed suit with a 6-4 win, clinching the doubles point and giving UCLA the early edge.

The doubles point has been a historic indicator of success, and securing the early advantage was a promising sign for the Bruins, who were 13-1 in such matches compared to just 4-5 when they did not.

“We were fortunate,” said coach Billy Martin. “I thought that (winning doubles) would give us a good shot in the arm to go into singles. But we know this team, and we know their top three are very, very good.”

And while UCLA showed flashes of promise, it did not sustain the edge that carried it past USC.

Michigan State fired back during singles play as No. 52 Johnson, No. 36 van Loben Sels, No. 87 sophomore Rudy Quan and junior Andy Nguyen dropped their first sets, putting UCLA on the defensive end.

However, redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund and senior Aadarsh Tripathi represented bright spots, capturing their first sets and putting the Bruins on the board. While Chinlund’s match remained unfinished, Tripathi edged out a 6-3, 6-4 win to earn the second – and final – point UCLA would notch.

“Aadarsh did a great job winning his match, and Cassius was right in there,” Martin said. “Not our best day in a couple of those matches, but still not going to dwell on that. We had a good win yesterday – we’ve got to stay positive going into NCAA.”

Quan’s match reflected those struggles. Facing a strong server in No. 15 Matthew Forbes, Quan struggled to generate break opportunities and ultimately fell 6-3, 6-4.

Van Loben Sels also ran into trouble, dropping his match in straight sets to No. 57 Ozan Baris.

Johnson, meanwhile, saw his comeback slip away after fighting to a 5-5 stalemate in his second set. The match carried extra weight, as Johnson had faced No. 33 Aristotelis Thanos on March 29 and lost in three sets.

“He probably had a little more confidence in this game,” Johnson said. “I haven’t been playing a lot because I’ve had an injury. I played him a few weeks ago, and that’s when my foot was really starting to hurt. I wasn’t feeling very confident. I think that showed up in the tight moments.”

Johnson fell to Thanos once again Friday – this time in straight sets.

With matches falling one by one, the outcome ultimately came down to Nguyen’s battle on court five.

Locked in a 6-6 second set, he needed a tiebreak victory to keep UCLA alive. Fans rushed to catch the decisive few points, but Nguyen was unable to swing the momentum, dropping the tiebreak 7-1 and conceding the clinching point to Michigan State’s Taym Alazmeh.

Despite the loss, UCLA looks to the future with the lessons the tournament has taught it.

“I think we need to believe in ourselves a little more,” Johnson said. “I think they’re not necessarily better, but you could hear them have more belief … across the board.”

Though their Big Ten tournament run may have ended, UCLA’s season is not over yet. With the NCAA tournament approaching, the Bruins have one last chance to regroup, get healthy and make a deep postseason push.

“We’re still really confident as a team. Each of us is confident in our games, and the NCAA is going to prove that. We can make a deep run,” Tripathi said.