UCLA -men resist late pressure to get an impressive victory over No. 9 Michigan State

The winning strip lives on.

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After abandoning all his 11-point lead, UCLA fought back to make the big plays in the final minutes of an epos 63-61 Victory over No. 9 Michigan State on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Somehow, somehow, Bruins has won six games in a row.

UCLAs Eric Diley Jr. Was the hero after he drove into the paint and knocked in a hard, disputed set-up to give Bruins a 63-61 lead with 7.5 seconds to go.

Michigan State called a timeout to create a last spectacle that went to Jaden Akins. But his three-pointer jumped out of the front of the edge, and Bruins (17-6 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) prevailed in an unlikely way.

Skyy Clark scored 13 of his 14 points in the first half for UCLA, which also got 13 points from Tyler Bilodeau and won despite shot 35% and made only seven of 28 three-points (25%).

Michigan State (18-4, 9-2) had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the last minute after Uclas Aday Mara missed a jumping hook, but after the Spartans missed out to travel with 24 seconds back .

An forward-and-back game married in UCLA’s direction by 2:42 to go after Clark swirled a cross-cutting pass to a wide-open Lazar Stefanovic, whose three-pointer pushed Bruins into a 61-59 lead. The Spartans bound the scoring when Kohler collected a loose ball for a layup.

In an awkward development for UCLA, changing song from “Go Green!” and “Go white!” Filled Pauley Pavilion after Michigan State’s Xavier Booker Booker blocked Bruins Guard Dylan Andrews’ set -up in the transition, and the Spartans added a Jaden adkins lineup.

When Carson Cooper made two free throw shortly thereafter, Michigan State had wiped out all his 11-point deficit from early in the second half, and the Spartans had the whole momentum after scoring eight consecutive points. At one point, UCLA only made one of 11 shots and none in more than six minutes.

The audience included UCLA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who went by Lew Alcindor when he played for Bruins) behind one baseline and Michigan State Great Magic Johnson behind the other, the long-time Lakers teammates shared on this evening, even though they exchanged one Half -time embrace.

The Spartans who came out of a six-point loss to the USC over the weekend that was their first defeat since the end of November did not feel better about themselves three days later.

Before Tuesday, UCLA trainer Mick Cronin and Michigan State -Mod Piece Tom Izzo had shared their two meetings since Cronin became Ucla’s coach, the Spartans who prevailed in Maui Invitational in 2019 and Bruins in 2021 NCAA Tournament Triumph, who sparked their unexpected final Four – Running.

Izzo may have contributed to the special journey considering what he told Cronin inside the Mackey Arena at night, UCLA stood from 14 points down in the first four games to beat his team in overtime.

“Your ass should not sleep,” Izzo said, referring to the necessary preparation for the next game.

In his first season at work in Westwood, Cronin said he would model his program after the way Izzo ran Michigan State, who won the 2000 National Championship and has been to eight Final Fours under his current coach. For Cronin, Izzo represented integrity, toughness and development of players as humans in addition to being skilled on a basketball court.

After reviewing another consecutive massive offseason makeover, UCLA continued to reveal its growth in the season before an acknowledging audience in the game’s early walk.

The place was rocking in the last minutes from the first half. With UCLAS Halfcourt defense that forced one revenue after another, Bruins rolled from a 13-4 race to take a 35-28 break.

Mara was in the middle of almost everything his team did, blocked a shot, competed several others, and threw several smart passes, including one to Clark for a backdoor lineup. Clark returned when he threw a lob to Mara for a thump.

Clark delivered another highlight as he followed a crossover dribble with a three-point. With Bruins in the middle of another big race, Izzo’s only movement was to call timeout when Mara patted her arms to get fans to increase decibel levels.

It would only get higher.