LOS ANGELES — Hep Cronin, the father of UCLA men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin, told the Southern California News Group that a post-game party was in store if the Bruins won Tuesday night to honor Mick’s 500th career win. Mick’s friend, Mark, had 100-plus shirts printed with Cronin’s face on it, Hep joked 30 minutes before tip-off. Hep, who is 83, had come all the way from Cincinnati and waited through a four-hour flight delay.
“Hopefully,” Hep said, “he won’t mess this up.”
Well, if that’s not a jinx, what is?
Minnesota crashed Cronin’s party, to say the least. The Golden Gophers trailed for 39 minutes, but the Bruins just couldn’t shake them, and then the inevitable happened. Lu’Cye Patterson scored a pair of last-minute layups – including a go-ahead effort with eight seconds left – and Minnesota upset UCLA, 64-61.
A Pauley Pavilion crowd that consisted of UCLA greats Baron Davis, Jaylen Clark, Dave Singleton and more ready to celebrate its coach moaned throughout a sloppy second half and were, ultimately, sent back into L.A. traffic with rage.
The Bruins (19-8 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) led 29-12 with 5:30 left in the first half and fell apart. They shot 5 for 15 from the free-throw line in the second half (9 for 19 overall), lost the rebound battle and let Big Ten leading scorer Dawson Garcia torch them.
Garcia led Minnesota (14-12, 6-9) with a season-high 32 points (27 after halftime) and eight rebounds. UCLA’s offense struggled. Tyler Bilodeau and Kobe Johnson each had 12 points to lead the Bruins.
The Bruins took a 34-23 advantage into the break, but seemed to think Minnesota wouldn’t adjust to their defensive pressure and just continue to throw the ball away. The Bruins’ defense went from instinctual to overzealous, as they conceded open looks and lost transition offense opportunities.
A rock fight ensued. Forced to play a half-court game, UCLA’s offensive actions looked disjointed. Dylan Andrews sailed a pass over Tyler Bilodeau’s head, Aday Mara threw one right to Golden Gophers guard Femi Odukale. Eric Dailey Jr. forced shot after shot as he missed his first six attempts.
Sebastian Mack tried to dig UCLA out of its haze with bull-dozing drives that earned him trips to the free-throw line, but he missed three in a row.
With 7:39 left, Dailey awoke from his malaise, scoring seven of the Bruins next nine points, including a mid-range jumper, a left-handed layup and a right-wing 3-pointer that restored a 55-47 advantage.
Garcia, though, dominated him on the other end, blowing by Dailey for a pair of layups and knocking down a pair of free throws that cut the margin to two.
He scored nine straight for the Golden Gophers in the final five minutes. The Bruins continued to brick their free throws, opening the door for Patterson’s layups to entirely cancel the party.
After Patterson’s late layup, UCLA’s Mack was called for a charge trying to drive the lane with 1.3 seconds remaining. Garcia made two foul shots with 0.9 seconds left to seal it, and UCLA’s desperation heave at the buzzer wasn’t close.
Minnesota had taken its first lead of the game when Patterson drove the lane to make it 60-59 with 1:02 remaining, capping an 11-2 Minnesota run.
DEJA VU
In its 69-66 comeback win against USC on Saturday, Minnesota overcame a 14-point deficit, trailed for 35:48 and scored 40 points in the second half. Against UCLA, Minnesota erased a 17-point margin, trailed for 37:41 and scored 41 points after halftime.
UP NEXT
UCLA hosts Ohio State on Sunday at 12:45 p.m.
More to come on this story.