UCLA will not be making another run to the Final Four.
After going from the First Four to the Final Four in the 2021 tournament, the UCLA Bruins were stunned by North Carolina, 73-66, on Friday night in Philadelphia, PA.
The loss ends the Bruins 2022 tournament run and sends North Carolina to the Elite 8, where they will square off with Cinderella squad St. Peters, who became the first No. 15 seed to ever advance to the Elite 8 after upsetting Purdue earlier in the evening.
UCLA’s loss also means that no teams from the Pac 12 or west coast will be advancing to the Elite 8 this year.
USC, San Diego State, Gonzaga, Arizona and others were all eliminated before the Elite Eight.
Caleb Love led North Carolina with a career-high 30 points, scoring 27 of them in the second half, including six three-pointers.
Jules Bernard led the Bruins with 16 points. Johnny Juzang had 14, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 10.
The two traditional blue blood schools stayed close to each other throughout the game. No team led by more than double-digits as both teams took turns taking the lead throughout the contest.
Love took over the game late with two clutch three-pointers that ultimately turned the tide. Love hit a three with just over a minute remaining that tied the game at 64-64, and another just 37 seconds later that gave North Carolina a 67-64 lead that they would never relinquish.
The Tar Heels attempted and made more three-pointers than the Bruins, shooting 10-for-31 from beyond the arc. It proved to be the difference in the game.
UCLA was out-rebounded by the bigger team from the ACC, 43-34, especially on the offensive glass where North Carolina grabbed 15 rebounds on offense compared to just 8 for the Bruins.
However, the team with just the third amount of turnovers per game in the entire NCAA once again protected the ball on offense. UCLA committed only 6 turnovers.
The two historical programs are considered college basketball royalty. UCLA lead all of college basketball with 11 national titles, but North Carolina is not far behind with six of their own.
Both teams are one of just a handful of schools with over 100 tournament wins. The Tar Heels now have 127 compared to the Bruins 110.
The two teams famously met in the 1968 National Championship game where UCLA, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) defeated North Carolina 78-55.
North Carolina got a little bit of redemption for that loss by defeating the Bruins on Friday and are just three wins away from cutting down the nets, and securing their seventh championship in school history.
