No. 1 UCLA Survives Scare in West, Advances to Sweet 16

Kevin Love scored 19 as the Bruins rallied. (AP Images)

A packed house in Anaheim, Calif., expected to cheer UCLA onto the Sweet 16. No one thought it would take until the final second to begin the celebrations.

In a thrilling but ugly West Region game, the top-seeded Bruins escaped with a 53-49 victory over No. 9 Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament. For a while it looked like UCLA would be the first No. 1 seed to be stung by March Madness. The Aggies led by as much as 10 in the second half.

The Bruins rallied with their trademark defense, led by Kevin Love. The freshman forward had seven blocks and also hit two key turnaround jumpers in the waning minutes. All-America point guard Darren Collison hit two running layups in the final minute, including the go-ahead hoop with 9.5 seconds to go.

A steal and buzzer-beating dunk by Russell Westbrook sealed the win.

Collison had a team-high 21 points and Love finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA, which didn’t come close to beating the point spread of 10.5. The Bruins advance to Phoenix as they seek to reach the Final Four for the third straight season.

In the late South Region game:

No. 5 Michigan State 65, No. 4 Pittsburgh 54: The Spartans ended the hopes of one of the hottest teams in the nation in Denver thanks to their backcourt. All-America point guard Drew Neitzel had 21 points and freshman Kalin Lucas added 19 to lead Michigan State over the Big East champs. The Spartans were three-point underdogs.

Here are the complete NCAA men’s basketball tournament second round results from Saturday. Updated NCAA college basketball lines are live in the Bodog Sportsbook.