The UCLA men’s basketball team and No. 11-ranked Gonzaga will look much different Wednesday to close out the Maui Invitational compared to last season’s memorable NCAA tournament meeting.
The Bruins and Bulldogs will meet in the fifth-place game after both teams bounced back Tuesday with wins in the consolation bracket.
UCLA (4-1) took a sloppy route to a 76-48 win over host Chaminade. Less than 24 hours after dealing with growing pains while blowing a 12-point second-half lead against No. 4 Marquette, the young Bruins had a season-worst 18 turnovers and found themselves in a 10-point game with more than 14 minutes to play.
Freshman guard Sebastian Mack then had a 3-pointer and a pair of layups as part of a 9-2 run to create separation and extend the advantage to 54-37 with 12:31 to play.
The Silverswords momentarily got within 13 before the Bruins started to pull away for good with 6:30 to play. A driving Mack layup sparked an 18-4 run to close out the game.
Mack led UCLA in scoring for a second consecutive game, finishing with 16 points. Utah transfer Lazar Stefanovic added 13 and Adem Bona had 12 for the Bruins, who shot 48.4% and owned a 55-24 rebounding advantage.
Gonzaga (3-1) rebounded from a 10-point loss to No. 2 Purdue by cruising past Syracuse, 76-57.
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures, including 12 of a team-high 19 points from Nolan Hickman in the second half.
Hickman and Graham Ike (16 points) each shot 7 of 14 from the field to lead the way. Anton Watson chipped in 12 and Ryan Nembhard had 11 for Gonzaga, which led by 14 at halftime and owned a 25-8 edge in second-chance points.
The Orange were outrebounded 48-28.
UCLA and Gonzaga lost a number of key pieces from last season’s teams that met in the Sweet 16 in Las Vegas. The Bulldogs won the meeting 79-76 on a go-ahead 3-pointer and free throw from Julian Strawther over the final 6 seconds.
The Bruins missed a last heave with 1.4 seconds remaining to end the season with a 31-6 record.
UCLA has since rebuilt its roster around Bona and fellow sophomore point guard Dylan Andrews. Head coach Mick Cronin recruited Mack and six other freshmen to go with Stefanovic’s addition through the transfer portal.
Cronin had to replace four starters from last season’s team including Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaime Jaquez Jr. and all-conference point guard Tyger Campbell.
Starting guards Strawther and Rasir Bolton and star big man Drew Timme, who had 36 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in last season’s classic, are no longer on Gonzaga’s roster.
It will mark the fourth consecutive season Gonzaga and UCLA have squared off. The Bruins are just 2-6 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 1-4 mark in NCAA tournament contests that includes a 93-90 loss in the 2021 Final Four.
Wednesday's fifth-place game will tip off at 9 p.m. PT and be televised by ESPN2.
