In the inaugural collegiate basketball game at Intuit Dome, the new home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, No. 22 UCLA defeated 14th-ranked Gonzaga 65-62 on Saturday, led by 18 points from Eric Dailey Jr., who made four 3-pointers.
With 56 seconds remaining, Ryan Nembhard’s shot put Gonzaga ahead 60-58 before the Bruins (11-2) scored five consecutive points. With 33 seconds left, Sebastian Mack made a three-pointer to give UCLA the lead, and 20 seconds later, Skyy Clark made two free throws.
After then, Nembhard scored while being fouled after driving the entire length of the floor. He missed the game-winning free throw with eight seconds remaining following a timeout.
With five seconds remaining, Clark led 65-62 after being fouled by Graham Ike and making both of his free shots. At the buzzer, Nembhard’s halfcourt 3-point attempt was unsuccessful.
Ike scored 24 points and pulled down eight boards to lead the Bulldogs (9-4). Nembhard finished with eight assists and 16 points.
On a day when both teams struggled offensively in the 18,000-seat arena, Graham was 11 of 16 from the field.
Tyler Bilodeau of UCLA had a difficult shooting day; he only managed seven points against Ike, much below his team-high 15.1 average.
Takeaways
Gonzaga: On neutral courts, the Zags lost 3–4.
UCLA: On neutral courts, the Bruins improved to 2-2. They had just lost to North Carolina by two points in New York City the previous weekend.
Key moment
With 4:12 left in the first half, Khalif Battle, the Zags’ starter, was sent off for a flagrant-2 foul against Dailey, costing the team five points. Mick Cronin, the coach at UCLA, ripped off his jacket before it was evaluated. When tensions between the teams increased early in the second half, Dailey and Nembhard were given double technicals.
Key stat
In the first half, with an 11-point deficit, the Zags made 2 of 11 3-point tries. In the second half, they made five three-pointers.
Up next
Gonzaga will visit Pepperdine on Monday while remaining in the Los Angeles region. In Big Ten play, UCLA travels to Nebraska on January 4.
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