It was a reckoning for a coach – and a team – on the brink.
Would UCLA rally behind Mick Cronin after he had thrown one of his players out of a game? Or would the Bruins signal their dissatisfaction for their beleaguered coach by giving minimal effort in a game they desperately needed to win?
With a massive comeback and a coast-to-coast layup that was shades of Tyus Edney with an additional tick of the clock, UCLA provided an emphatic answer Saturday evening at Pauley Pavilion.
Donovan Dent’s layup at the buzzer in overtime lifted the Bruins to a potentially season-saving 95-94 victory over No. 10 Illinois, sending fans storming onto the court as officials went to review the play.
They quickly ruled that the layup was good after Dent had taken the inbounds pass with 4.9 seconds left – one tenth of a second longer than Edney’s famous version in the 1995 NCAA tournament – and split two defenders near the free-throw line before beating another at the rim with a scoop layup he banked in.
It was the ultimate redemption for UCLA (18-9 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) and Dent after a failed box-out on Illinois guard Keaton Wagler led to an easy putback with 4.9 seconds to go. Dent had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but missed a 3-pointer.
UCLA had trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half and appeared on the way to another blow.
There were boos for Cronin during pregame introductions, though it was hard to tell if they came from UCLA fans or their Illinois counterparts who made up nearly half of the crowd.
In his first game since getting tossed by his own coach for committing a hard foul, UCLA backup center Steven Jamerson II barely played, going scoreless in two minutes.
This was a victory that UCLA needed to have for two reasons.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
