It was almost unimaginable—the sheer number of things that would have to go wrong for UCLA to lose its commanding lead with just over half of the second half left to play.
Tyler Bilodeau was on fire, sinking one three-pointer after another. Some of his shots seemed to defy the odds, like one that rattled around the rim before finally dropping in, signaling the Bruins were on the verge of a massive win. By the time Bilodeau drained his fifth three-pointer of the game, UCLA had built a solid 16-point lead against North Carolina, leaving their fans cheering at Madison Square Garden. The energy was palpable, with the crowd largely dressed in Carolina blue, stunned by UCLA’s relentless attack.
But then came the turning point. Just over a minute after Bilodeau’s fifth three-pointer, disaster struck. A whistle blew. Bilodeau, who had been nearly flawless in his performance, was called for his fourth foul. The problem? UCLA’s entire momentum seemed to fade once he left the court.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin, a veteran with plenty of experience, immediately pulled Bilodeau out of the game. But as the game would prove, his absence would have a far greater impact than anyone could have expected. As Cronin put it, “The problem was Tyler Bilodeau wasn’t in the game.” And that, in a nutshell, would become the Bruins' undoing.
For the next six and a half minutes, UCLA watched in disbelief as North Carolina began to eat into their once-massive lead. The gap had been 14 points when Bilodeau exited, but when he finally returned with just 5:15 left in the game, UCLA’s cushion had shrunk to just three. By then, the damage had already been done.
Cronin made it clear that he was reluctant to put Bilodeau back in sooner, especially given the way the game was being officiated. With 47 fouls called during the game, it wasn’t the kind of environment where players could afford to make mistakes. Bilodeau himself was quick to take responsibility for the turn of events, acknowledging that his foul trouble had played a role in his team’s collapse. "I’ve got to be smarter," he said, reflecting on the fouls that took him out of the game. “I can’t reach in on those or take silly fouls because it hurts the team, so that’s on me.”
Once Bilodeau was back in the game, it wasn’t just his fouls that hurt UCLA. In the final moments of the game, the Bruins couldn’t buy a free throw. Bilodeau, who had been so deadly from the field, missed four of his six free throws in the last few minutes, contributing to a team-wide meltdown from the charity stripe. As a unit, the Bruins missed a staggering eight free throws in the second half alone.
As the game wound down, the Bruins found themselves trailing by just a point with only 10 seconds left. In a situation that called for a clutch moment, the ball found its way to Sebastian Mack, UCLA’s fearless playmaker. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Mack’s short turnaround jumper missed its mark with less than a second remaining, sealing UCLA’s fate. It was a heartbreaking end to a game that seemed so firmly in their grasp.
UCLA’s loss was compounded by mistakes from other players as well, particularly from the point guards. Skyy Clark, another key player for the Bruins, missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities. To make matters worse, he fouled out of the game, taking valuable points off the board for UCLA. And if that wasn’t enough, Dylan Andrews made an ill-timed error by turning the ball over on an inbounds pass with just 21 seconds left in the game. North Carolina, down by one at the time, capitalized on that mistake, putting the Bruins in an even deeper hole.
“It’s hard to win,” Cronin said, repeating himself with a sense of frustration. “Hard to win.” And in that moment, it was clear that the Bruins’ combination of missed opportunities and defensive lapses was simply too much to overcome.
In addition to the challenges UCLA faced with Bilodeau and the foul trouble, they were also missing one of their key players in the game’s opening minutes. Eric Dailey Jr., one of UCLA’s top forwards, took a hard hit to the face early on and was visibly off his game. He only played nine minutes in total, scoring just two points. Cronin was quick to pull him from the game after just 12 seconds of play in the second half, a move that underscored just how off Dailey was. "He wasn’t himself," Cronin explained. “He didn’t play well early, and he took a shot to the face, and I could tell he wasn’t the same.”
Despite these setbacks, Bilodeau’s performance was something to behold. The junior guard finished with a remarkable 26 points—two of which came after he returned to the game. But even his stellar shooting couldn’t save the Bruins. North Carolina, led by the dynamic Ian Jackson off the bench, proved to be too much in the final stretch. Jackson scored 24 points, leading his team to a come-from-behind victory.
For North Carolina, this win was particularly sweet as they continued their dominance over UCLA. They’ve now won seven straight games in the series, and haven’t lost to the Bruins since January 2000. UCLA, on the other hand, had been riding high on a nine-game winning streak before this loss, and this defeat left Cronin with a lot to reflect on as his team prepares for a tough matchup with Gonzaga next weekend.
Cronin had warned his players that North Carolina was never a team to give up easily. "They’re just going to keep coming," he said, predicting a fast-paced, high-pressure game. "They’re going to play faster, they’re going to go small, they’re going to drive the ball, try to draw fouls." But despite these warnings, UCLA struggled to stay disciplined, particularly when it came to avoiding fouls. One of the most critical fouls came when R.J. Davis, North Carolina’s standout guard, drove to the basket and was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line. Davis sank both free throws to give the Tar Heels a 75-74 lead with just 13.6 seconds remaining.
North Carolina held on from there, winning a game in which they trailed for all but 50 seconds, but ultimately came out victorious when it mattered most. For Cronin, this loss left a bitter taste in his mouth. "My teams don’t do stuff like that," he said of the mental mistakes and lapses in judgment that cost UCLA the game. "It’s hard to find guys as smart as [veteran players] Tyger Campbell and Dave Singleton."
As UCLA now heads into a challenging stretch of the season, they’ll need to regroup and figure out how to handle high-pressure situations, improve their free throw shooting, and avoid costly turnovers. There’s no doubt that this loss stung, but it also served as a valuable reminder: In the game of basketball, momentum can shift in an instant, and no lead is ever truly safe.
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