Indianapolis — A brutal first half, no answer for UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, a sputtering offensive performance and a rough finish.
Top-seeded Michigan somehow navigated it all and had four shots to save its season in the final 11 seconds, but missed each attempt as it fell to No. 11 UCLA, 51-49, in the Elite Eight matchup Tuesday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Freshman center Hunter Dickinson had 11 points for Michigan (23-5), which didn’t make a field goal over the final 5:22, missed its final eight shot attempts and scored just two points in the final four minutes of the game.
Juzang finished with 28 points — 18 coming in the first half — and Tyger Campbell added 11 points for UCLA (22-9).
Michigan’s troubles containing Juzang spilled into the second half. He drew a foul on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to put UCLA up, 34-25, with 18:15 remaining.
But after Juzang landed awkwardly on a rebound and briefly exited the game at the 17:17 mark, Michigan started to gain some momentum as Dickinson started to get going and the defense started to dig in. He made back-to-back baskets in the paint to spark an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 34-33 with 12:35 to go.
UCLA’s Cody Riley hit a hook to stem the tide and snap a six-minute scoring drought and Juzang continued to be a menace before Michigan clawed back on top, 43-42, on a 3-pointer from grad transfer guard Mike Smith.
That set the stage for a back-and-forth stretch in which the lead changed three times. UCLA went back on top by three, Michigan used a 3-pointer from senior guard Chaundee Brown and free throw from Dickinson to go back up by one and the Bruins reclaimed a 48-47 edge on a jumper from Jules Bernard with 4:04 remaining.
Michigan came up empty on its next four possessions until sophomore wing Franz Wagner hit two free throws to cut it to 50-49 with 44 seconds left and got a stop as UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. missed a 3-pointer.
But on the ensuing possession, Michigan got it to Wagner out on the perimeter, where he air-balled a 3-point attempt. Senior guard Eli Brooks came up with the ball and missed the putback attempt.
After Juzang split two free throws with six seconds left to make it a two-point game, Michigan still had a chance to save its season. But Smith misfired on a 3-pointer from the wing and Michigan’s last shot after a video review ended with another missed deep ball from Wagner.
It was far from pretty at the start as both teams had a tough time making shots and holding onto the ball. The Wolverines were stagnant and sloppy against UCLA’s switching on defense and the Bruins refused to let Dickinson get comfortable in the post.
Michigan’s defense, though, was up to the task and held firm. The Wolverines forced the Bruins to miss 12 of their first 14 shots and commit four turnovers over the opening 10 minutes. That included a scoring drought of nearly seven minutes in which Michigan pieced together a 9-0 run that Brown capped with a corner 3-pointer for an 11-4 lead with 10:47 remaining in the first half.
But once Juzang snapped the spell with a runner in the lane, he started to heat up as UCLA’s sole source of offense and seemingly couldn’t be stopped. He drained back-to-back 3-pointers and got loose for a layup as he scored 14 of UCLA’s first 16 points.
As Michigan continued to struggle with its shot-making and to get into any sort of offensive flow, UCLA used a pair of free throws from Jaime Jaquez Jr. to pull ahead, 18-17, at the 3:40 mark.
By the time the miserable first half fittingly ended with grad transfer guard Mike Smith missing two free throws in the final seconds, the Wolverines trailed the Bruins, 27-23, and had nearly as many turnovers (nine) as made shots (10).
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