The No. 11 UCLA Bruins took a 22-19 lead over the No. 11 St. Bonaventure Bonnies with just over 6:30 to go in the first half of Tuesday night’s First Four game in Dayton.
UCLA would go on to score *one* point over the final 6:30 of the half, and the Bonnies took a 28-23 lead into halftime.
But UCLA was able to take a five-point lead themselves on this Alex Olesinski jumper with 8:20 remaining to make it a 51-46 game:
And for the remaining 8:20, the Bruins were outscored 19-7. So, over about a 15-minute stretch to close out the halves, UCLA scored eight points. Yikes. That’s certainly not going to get it done in March (or ever).
The Bonnies’ Jaylen Adams made what would serve as the game-winning jumper on this difficult shot with under a minute left:
This is technically an NCAA Tournament game of course, and it’s the Bonnies’ first tournament victory since 1970. They will take on the East Region’s No. 6-seeded Florida Gators in the (next) first round.
Twitter certainly has thoughts on UCLA, and especially head coach Steve Alford.
Steve Alford is a bad coach running a mediocre program at one of the most historic and privileged basketball schools in the country.
The only justification for UCLA keeping him is they are too incompetent or content with mediocrity.
— Ryan Rosenblatt (@RyanRosenblatt) March 14, 2018
I know one thing we can all agree on is it's beautiful to watch Steve Alford get bounced from the tournament.
— Chris Rongey (@ChrisRongey) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/Hawkize/status/973761583515095041
A Steve Alford-coached team underachieving in the NCAA tournament? You don't say…
— Max Meyer (@TheMaxMeyer) March 14, 2018
Down 2, Steve Alford drew up absolutely nothing on his grease board. Holiday had to go 1-on-1. Bonnies were ready.
Bruins are toast, and deservedly so. What a joke of a program. #UCLA— Brian Murphy (@knbrmurph) March 14, 2018
Steve Alford and #UCLA have a bunch of McDonald's All-Americans. St. Bonaventure eats at McDonald's a lot. This guy couldn't coach zone offense five-on-zero.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/973759849493221376
"What has Steve Alford drawn up here?"
"Put your head down and drive into traffic."#MarchMadnessCoaching— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) March 14, 2018
[TruTV]
