UCLA Bruins guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Anton Watson (22). (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
College basketball Twitter had a field day reacting to Gonzaga’s thrilling victory over UCLA in the Sweet 16 after the Bruins blew a big halftime lead.
UCLA and Gonzaga should meet in March Madness every year.
That was the consensus on Thursday night as the Bruins and Bulldogs played another instant classic full of twists and turns in the Sweet 16.
Seventeen years to the day since Adam Morrison’s Gonzaga lost a heartbreaker to UCLA, the Zags got more revenge with a logo three from Julian Stawther to win the game and advance to the Elite Eight.
Even though UCLA erased a nine-point deficit in the final 1:15 and had a lead with 12 seconds to go, the perception was that the Bruins blew it in the second half.
After all, they held a 13-point lead at halftime then went on to go completely cold following the break. They went more than 11 minutes without making a field goal.
The tweets wrote themselves.
Best memes and tweets as Gonzaga got revenge on UCLA
Jaime Jaquez led the Bruins with 29 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three streals and a block in what was his final appearance for UCLA.
His effort wasn’t enough to counterbalance an even more epic performance from Gonzaga’s Drew Timme. The mustachioed big man finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
The Bruins will head home to contemplate what could have been if injuries hadn’t thinned their roster. The Zags will move on to face No. 4 seed UConn in the Elite Eight on Saturday.
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