UCLA stuns Alabama to reach the Elite Eight: Scores, stats, highlights and 3 things we learned

The No. 11 UCLA Bruins pulled off a massive upset over No. 2 Alabama to reach the Elite Eight.

The 2021 NCAA Tournament has been ripe with unprecedented upsets. Sure, the top teams like Gonzaga and Michigan were able to advance to the Elite Eight as expected, but the Alabama Crimson Tide were unable to escape the Sweet 16.

On Sunday, the No. 11 UCLA Bruins defeated the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide 88-78 to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide are still held to one lone Elite Eight appearance (2004) and zero showings in the Final Four in program history.

Highlights from UCLA’s upset win over Alabama

Early on in the first half, UCLA sophomore guard Johnny Juzang faced off one-on-one with Alabama senior guard John Petty Jr. With UCLA down 21-17, Juzang managed to unleash a three-point shot with Petty defending him, and he hit nothing but net.

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With Alabama down 44-40, sophomore guard Jahvon Quinerly cut the deficit down to two points by dishing out an impressive over the shoulder pass to freshman guard Joshua Primo.

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Speaking of Quinerly, the guard attempted to break a 54-54 tie in the second half by showing off his handles to get past junior forward Cody Riley for a layup attempt. While the effort was amazing and admirable, Riley was having none of it and unleashed a vicious block.

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Of course, the biggest highlight of the game came in the waning seconds of regulation. UCLA held a 65-62 lead with a little over four seconds remaining, and Alabama looked dead to rights. But like Frankenstein’s monster, the Crimson Tide were risen from the dead thanks to a buzzer beating three-point shot from senior forward Alex Reese to send the game into overtime.

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3 takeaways from UCLA’s huge win over Alabama

3. Alabama’s woeful performance from the charity stripe

If one thing consistent about Alabama’s game in the Sweet 16, it was their inability to convert on shots from the charity stripe. The Crimson Tide had a grand total of 25 attempts from the free-throw line and only made 11 of them. That is a 44.0-percent success rate. The woes loomed largest in the end of the second half, where they missed three of their final four attempts.

We may very well be writing a different story if Alabama converted on higher than 50-percent from their free throw chances.

2. Jaime Jacquez Jr. clutch in overtime

UCLA did not waver after watching Reese’s game-tying shot to send the game in overtime. In fact, sophomore forward Jaime Jacquez Jr. stepped up and proved he is clutch in crunch-time.

Jacquez started off overtime with a beautiful assist to David Singleton, who drained a shot from beyond the arc to give the Bruins an early 68-65 lead. The forward would hit a jump shot following a Quinerly three-pointer to extend UCLA’s lead to 72-68. Following a two point shot from Alabama’s Herbert Jones, Jacquez essentially iced the game with a three-pointer of his own to give UCLA a 77-70 lead with over two minutes remaining.

When the lights shine brightest, Jacquez will show up and show out.

1. UCLA giving us VCU vibes

Back in 2011, the VCU Rams went on an unprecedented run that exemplified the true meaning of a Cinderella team. They clinched a spot in the First Four by defeating UCLA, and went on to defeat Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and the heavily favored Kansas Jayhawks to advance to the Final Four.

We are getting a similar story from the 2020-21 UCLA Bruins. They managed to start off the Big Ten’s hellish experience in the Indiana bubble by sending the Michigan State Spartans home in the First Four Round, and proceeded to defeat No. 6 BYU and No. 14 Abilene Christian before pulling off their upset against Alabama on Sunday.

This UCLA squad has all the momentum in the world. Even though they do face No. 1 Michigan in the Elite Eight on Tuesday, we can not count out the Bruins. This win over Alabama proved just that.

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