Men’s Basketball Falls to Tennessee, 67-58, in NCAA Tournament

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 7-seed UCLA men's basketball team fell to No. 2-seed Tennessee, 67-58, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Kentucky's Rupp Arena on Saturday evening.

The loss ended UCLA's season, as the Bruins closed their campaign with a 23-11 record and a 13-7 mark in Big Ten play.

Junior guard Skyy Clark paced the Bruins on Saturday, scoring a season-best 18 points. He connected on 4-of-5 attempts form 3-point distance in 21 minutes. Junior forward Tyler Bilodeau added 15 points for UCLA. Sophomore center Aday Mara led the Bruins' bench with seven points, all in the first half.

Chaz Lanier posted a game-high 20 points and drilled four of his five 3-point attempts for Tennessee (29-7). The Volunteers connected on 7 of 12 attempts from 3-point distance in the second half. Zakai Zeigler and Jordan Gainey also finished in double-figure scoring with 15 points and 13 points, respectively.

The Volunteers used a 22-6 scoring run on Saturday, stretching from the final three minutes of the first half through the first six minutes of the second half. That allowed Tennessee to break away from the Bruins and secure a 46-31 cushion. Tennessee's lead ballooned to a game-high 19 points (at 61-42), after a 3-point basket by Ziegler with 5:15 to play in the contest.

"Look, they're a hell of a team," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "There was a time they [Tennessee] were number one in the country, I think. They're a hell of a team … They only scored 67. It's not like we gave up 97. They scored 67. You're not going to win many games, guys, you get 58. Skyy not being able to play and Eric threw us off. It messed the game up. We had a chance – if that wouldn't have happened, we might have had a lead at half. It could have been a whole different game."

Clark, who sat 17 minutes in the first half due after he picked up two early fouls, opened the second period by drilling each of his first two shot attempts from 3-point land. Clark's triples helped cut UCLA's deficit down to just six points, at 37-31, with 17:44 remaining. Tennessee answered with three straight 3-pointers – two from Lanier and one from Ganiey – to push ahead of the Bruins.

No team was able to pull away in the first 17 minutes of the first half, with seven lead changes between the two squads. The Volunteers held the Bruins scoreless in the final 3:21 of the first half, while closing on an 8-0 run punctuated by a Lanier steal and layup with the foul. Lanier, Tennessee's leading scorer this season, knocked down his free throw to put Tennessee ahead, 32-25, at halftime.

Tennessee was effective in drawing contact early, going 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the first half compared to UCLA who shot just 2-for-5 from the stripe.

Lanier led all players with 12 points in the first half.

UCLA opened the game by drilling two of its first three 3-pointers, from Bilodeau and Clark. The sequence was followed by a Sebastian Mack layup, giving the Bruins their largest lead of the first half, at 8-4. Lanier hit each of his first two 3-point attempts to knot the score at 12-12.

The Bruins, who finished the year 23-11, made their 53rd NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced t to the tournament's second round for the fourth time under Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin. UCLA advanced into the second round with a 72-47 win over Utah State on Thursday, March 20.

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Men’s Basketball Falls to Tennessee, 67-58, in NCAA Tournament

Team Stats

Skyy Clark

Tyler Bilodeau

Aday Mara

Trent Perry

Players Mentioned

Tyler Bilodeau

Skyy Clark

Sebastian Mack

Aday Mara

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

Men’s Basketball Falls to Tennessee, 67-58, in NCAA Tournament

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Skyy Clark

Tyler Bilodeau

Aday Mara

Trent Perry

Players Mentioned

Tyler Bilodeau

Skyy Clark

Sebastian Mack

Aday Mara

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