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NCAA Tournament: UCLA Basketball Defeats Cincinnati Behind a Ridiculous Second Half

By Mike Regalado

Mar 19, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2) and forward TJ Leaf (22) celebrate the win over the Cincinnati Bearcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2) and forward TJ Leaf (22) celebrate the win over the Cincinnati Bearcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The UCLA Basketball team took over in the second half of their Round of 32 match up against Cincinnati to win 79-67 and move on to the Sweet 16.

The UCLA Basketball team had a ridiculous second half as they ran all over the Cincinnati Bearcats to move on to the Sweet 16.

It is a story straight out of March Madness.

A disrespected team that has been knocked down all season long, even by some of their own “fans”, gets snubbed by “experts” for not being as good as their talent should dictate, eventually shows their worth in a statement win and moves on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. You know, the usual madness.

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The game started as everyone expected. Cincinnati put up a fight and locked down the Bruins for 37.5% shooting in the first half.

UCLA once again was without their offense before the half and could have really been run over by the Bearcats, but Cincinnati had problems of their own, especially with 8 turnovers in the first half alone, which UCLA scored 10 points off of. It looked bleak, but it was not over. It would be ridiculous to think that.

After halftime, the Bruins attacked. Coming out of the break, UCLA went on several runs which flummoxed Cincinnati and had them call a couple of timeouts in the first eight minutes of the second half to try and kill the Bruins’ momentum.

The Bearcats managed to take another lead with 13 1/2 minutes remaining with the score at 47-46, but from that point on, the Bruins shot the lights out against a very good defense.

Cincinnati was doing an excellent job covering their men, but the speed of the Bruins eventually got to Cincy. UCLA had shot 19/30 (63.3%) in the second half which was backed by an excellent performance by Lonzo Ball.

Ball finished with 18 points, 9 assist, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Ball was back to his explosive ways as he led a ridiculous charge in the second half.

The other four starters also finished in double-digits as Thomas Welsh and TJ Leaf had 11 points, Isaac Hamilton added 10 and Bryce Alford finally came alive in the second half with a total of 18 points. UCLA scored 49 points after a season-low 30 points in the first half.

This is the team that UCLA Basketball fans have been clamoring over all season long and now they have the attention of the nation.

Next: UCLA Needs to Focus and Limit Distractions

That attention increases next Friday, March 24 at 6:40 p.m. PT when the Bruins face the #2 Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16 in Memphis. Go Bruins!