SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- On their way out of the NCAA Tournament, the Arizona Wildcats dished a final assist to a surprise recipient.
Several UCLA players said Thursday night that they took the news of Arizona’s 59-55 loss to 15th-seeded Princeton earlier in the day as another reminder to take their own 15th-seeded opponent seriously. The Bruins then blew out UNC Asheville 86-53 in Thursday’s last game at the Golden 1 Center, moving to to a West Region second-round game against Northwestern.
“We just saw a 15 seed beat a No 2, so it just made us come out and understand that every team in the tournament can play,” UCLA guard Tyger Campbell said.
Campbell sheepishly admitted that he actually didn’t see the UA-Princeton game live – “not gonna lie, I take a nap before every game,” he said – but did some quick research to see what happened to the team that beat UCLA just five days earlier for the Pac-12 Tournament title.
“I woke up and saw that they had got beat and I was pretty surprised,” Campbell said. “I immediately went on YouTube to watch the condensed game. It was crazy. Princeton played a hell of a game."
Actually, UCLA coach Mick Cronin indicated, the Wildcats had actually inspired the Bruins all week because of that Pac-12 Tournament title game.
“We don't take losing well at UCLA,” Cronin said. “We spell fun W-I-N. We lost our last game. These guys took it personal. You saw how they came out tonight.”
UCLA guard Will McClendon said he watched the entire UA-Princeton game, saying he wasn’t surprised to see Arizona lose despite how they played last week in the Pac-12 Tournament.
“Growing up as a kid, you know March Madness is full of crazy upsets, crazy games,” McClendon said. “So when teams come out and they don't give the right respect to the teams that they they're facing against, you can see things happening like that. Those are both good teams playing. Princeton isn't a bad team. They're a really good team as well. You’ve just got to come out and play every game no matter who you're facing.”
UCLA guard David Singleton said he, too, was napping when the Tigers were about to destroy even President Joe Biden’s bracket, but that roommate Abramo Canka woke him up.
When he did wake up, Singleton was not surprised. After all, he said the Bruins had a scare in the first round last season, beating 13th seeded Akron just 57-53.
“We are all are basketball fans,” Singleton said. “We grew up watching March Madness. So we all know that there's upsets that happen every year. This year we're trying not to be one of them.”
