It was another instant classic between what has been one of the best rivalries in all of college basketball over the 20 years. This time, 17 years to the day of UCLA’s famous upset win over Gonzaga in the 2006 Sweet 16, Mark Few’s Bulldogs came out on top.
It was a game in which both teams would blow double-digit leads. The Bruins found themselves up 13 points at halftime, 46-33 while Gonzaga after making an immense second-half push would be up 10-points with under three minutes to play.
It would be an ending to remember.
Down 72-62 with 2:30 remaining in the second half, UCLA would go on a 14-3 run over the next two minutes and 12 seconds to take a 76-75 lead with just 13 seconds remaining. Gonzaga fans at the time were seeing ghosts of the past 17 years later, thinking it couldn’t be happening again.
Luckily for them, Gonzaga and Julian Strawther would have different plans. On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs would run a play very similar to that of Villanova’s game-winning play to win the 2016 National Championship.
Sophomore guard Hunter Sallis would bring the ball up the court before dropping it off to Strawther while crossing past him, allowing Strawther to get some much-needed extra room for the shot. However, instead of Kris Jenkins’s shot which came from close to the three-point line, Strawther would pull up from the logo to give the Bulldogs a 78-76 point lead. The shot would absolutely stun the Bruins who were not expecting the junior guard from Las Vegas to take such a shot considering there were still over nine seconds remaining when he took the shot.
After a free throw a few seconds later made it a three-point game, the Bruins would look for one final look but Tyger Campbell’s three-point attempt at the buzzer would fail to fall.
With the 79-76 win, the Bulldogs will move on to play the No. 4 seeded UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight on Saturday night in Las Vegas.