INDIANAPOLIS — No matter what the experts said, the metrics predicted, the casual or diehard fan believed, Mick Cronin felt assured of two things in the face of this challenge of a lifetime.
His team would show up. It would play to win.
UCLA had come too far, defied too many odds in surviving March to reach April, to give in now, no matter the probabilities or the season-long perfection of its nemesis.
So the Bruins fought, surged ahead early and responded to every challenge against a team expected to end its season in runaway fashion, pushing Gonzaga into overtime.
It was there that the Bulldogs were just a smidgen tougher, a smidgen better, a smidgen more fortunate in pulling out an epic 93-90 victory in a national semifinal Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The ending was mayhem.
One moment, UCLA’s Johnny Juzang was going in for a putback of his own miss to tie the score with three seconds left.
The next, Gonzaga’s Jaylen Suggs was rising for a 30-footer at the buzzer that he banked in at the buzzer before racing over to a courtside table and leaping onto it before raising his arms in celebration.
The Bruins could only place their hands on their heads and pull their jersey tops out of their pants in frustration at the end of their run to glory that looked like it might last two days longer.
UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez made a three-pointer to pull his team within 90-88, pumping his fist in celebration, before the Bruins got the ball back and Juzang followed his miss with a putback.
Gonzaga (31-0) survived its way into its first championship game since 2017, when the Bulldogs lost to North Carolina. They will go for the first title in school history on Monday when they face top-seeded Baylor after the Bears routed Houston in the earlier semifinal.
After extending its winning streak to 35 games going back to last season, Gonzaga will attempt to complete the first undefeated season since Indiana was flawless in 1976.
More chaos had broken out in the final seconds of regulation when Juzang drove toward the basket, triggering contact and a whistle. Everybody looked at the officials. It was a charging foul with 1.1 seconds left.
Juzang got some redemption when he intercepted Suggs’ inbounds pass, sending the game into overtime and prompting Cronin to pump his fist.
