UCLA is headed for the NCAA basketball tournament’s Sweet 16.
Crosstown rival USC missed it by four points.
The Bruins — powered by 19 points and nine assists by freshman sensation Lonzo Ball — shook off a slow start to pull away from the University of Cincinnati in the second half, en route to a 79-67 win Sunday evening in the second round of the tournament, commonly referred to as March Madness.
The victory in Sacramento over the determined sixth-seeded Bearcats, who finished the season 30-6, sends third-seeded UCLA (31-4) to the NCAA’s South Regional finals in Memphis, where they will play second-seeded Kentucky on Friday.
This is UCLA’s third trip in four seasons to the Sweet 16 under head coach Steve Alford.
Sign up here for our free newsletters. We’ll send you the latest headlines every morning and every weekday afternoon.
USC — attempting to be the fourth team to make the Sweet 16 after winning a play-in game in the 68-team tournament — took things to the wire in a hard-fought 82-78 East Regional loss to third-seeded Baylor in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The 11th-seeded Trojans (26-10), who under head coach Andy Enfield set a USC season record for wins, had rallied for victories in their first two post- season games against Providence and SMU and almost did it again Sunday evening against Baylor (27-7).
USC was nursing a 67-65 lead with 4 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game, until a rare four-point play by Baylor guard Manu Lecomte gave the Bears a 69-67 lead they maintained to the end.
Lecomte, a Belgium native held in check for most of the contest, poured in eight points in a 45-second span that helped fuel the Bears winning finish.
Trojan big man Chimezie Metu tossed in 28 points in a superb effort. Bennie Boatwright tallied 16 for USC, attempting to make the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 seasons.
—City News Service