Gonzaga Survived A Final Four Thriller Against UCLA Thanks To A Halfcourt Buzzer-Beater By Jalen Suggs

The best basketball game that these eyes have seen ended in the only way it possible could. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, now 40 minutes away from perfection, took haymaker after haymaker from the UCLA Bruins in an instant Final Four classic. We were mere seconds away from needing double overtime to determine a winner, but thanks to Jalen Suggs, the Bulldogs came out on top, 93-90.

The 11th-ranked Bruins gave Gonzaga every single thing it could handle, going down to the final seconds. After forcing a miss by Corey Kispert with 22 seconds left, UCLA walked it up and gave the ball to stud guard Johnny Juzang. While his initial attempt did not go in, Juzang relentlessly pursued his miss, securing the rebound and laying it in to tie things up at 90. With 3.3 seconds left, Suggs got the ball, pushed it up the court, and added his name to March Madness lore for the rest of time.

The game was a breathtaking back-and-forth between the Bulldogs, which have legitimate aspirations of going down as one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time, and the Bruins, which had their sights set on going from the First Four to the title game. Both teams gave the other their best shot, with every moment feeling like it had the potential to create a layer of separation that never came.

In overtime, it looked like the Zags were going to pull away behind Drew Timme being unguardable, along with Andrew Nembhard getting blessed with an “onions!” from Bill Raftery.

But UCLA, no matter what, had a response. After the Nembhard triple, Jaime Jaquez connected on a triple to make it a two-point game, which beget an ending no one will ever forget.

Suggs was terrific, scoring 16 points, doling out six assists, hauling in five rebounds, forcing a pair of steals, and blocking a shot. Timme was the leading scorer for the Zags, going for 25, while Joel Ayayi had 22 and six rebounds. For the Bruins, Juzang led all scorers with 29 and six rebounds, while Jaquez had 19 and Tyger Campbell had 17 and seven dimes.

With the win, the top-ranked Bulldogs will take on fellow 1-seed Baylor in a matchup of the two clear-cut best teams in all of college basketball.