PHILADELPHIA — Johnny Juzang hit a 3-pointer to give UCLA a one-point advantage in the heart of the second half. North Carolina countered and took the lead back.
Jaylen Clark hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Bruins the lead again. On the ensuing possession, the Tar Heels snagged the lead back.
It was a back and forth of college basketball heavyweights in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, and maybe, the chance to play 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s in the East Regional final was lingering in the back of the minds of every player and coach as an opportunity that shouldn’t be squandered.
But first, the last 10 minutes needed to be won.
Caleb Love hit game-tying and go-ahead 3-pointers 37 seconds apart as eighth-seeded North Carolina won that battle and the game, 73-66, to advance to the Elite Eight, ending fourth-seeded UCLA’s tournament run at the Wells Fargo Center.
The game featured 14 lead changes and eight ties.
North Carolina (27-9) will face Saint Peter’s (22-11), which made history with its 67-64 victory over third-seeded Purdue, on Sunday. The Peacocks are the first No. 15 seed to ever reach the Elite Eight.
Brady Manek hit a 3-pointer to give the Tar Heels a 61-60 lead with 4:16 left that prompted UCLA coach Mick Cronin to call a timeout. Jules Benard scored out of the timeout to regain the lead at 62-61. It was the game’s 13th lead change.
Tyger Campbell extended UCLA’s lead to 64-61 with two minutes to play. But Love hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Tar Heels a 67-64 lead with 1:03 left. After a second straight UCLA possession ended with a miss by Jaime Jaquez Jr., Armando Bacot followed that with a tip-in basket to ice the game with 15 seconds left.
Love, a sophomore, finished with a career-high 30 points, including six 3-pointers and two game-clinching free throws with 7.8 seconds left. After shooting just 1 for 8 in the first half, Love scored 27 of Carolina’s 45 points in the second half, including one stretch of 10 straight that kept the Tar Heels in the game.
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Bacot had 14 points and 15 rebounds (eight offensive), a major factor in the Tar Heels scoring 19 second-chance points.
Bernard led UCLA (27-8) with 16 points and five rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting. Campbell finished with 15 points and six assists. Johnny Juzang scored 14 points and Jaquez added 10 on 5-of-18 shooting.
The Bruins made their first back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances since the 2014 and 2015 seasons, but they fell two wins short of a return trip to the Final Four.
More to come on this story.