UCLA vs MICHIGAN
When: 3/30/2021 9:57 PM
Where: Lucan Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

TV: 9:57 PM
LINE: -300
PREDICTION: UCLA, Michigan

Oddsmakers currently have Michigan listed as 7 point favorites versus UCLA while the game’s total is sitting at 136.

Underdog UCLA sets sights on Michigan for another upset win

UCLA was expected to have a short stay in the NCAA Tournament, but the Bruins stand just one win away from reaching the Final Four.

The 11th-seeded Bruins aim to win their fifth straight tourney game when they attempt to upset top-seeded Michigan in Tuesday night’s East Regional final at Indianapolis.

The Bruins (21-9) are attempting to join Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 as the only schools to go from being relegated to the NCAA Tournament’s First Four to crashing the Final Four. They earned their date with the Wolverines by posting an exhilarating 88-78 overtime win over second-seeded Alabama on Sunday.

“There’s many times we could have packed it in, but I told them they’ve put up with me for two years trying to pound into them toughness and competitive spirit,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “They allowed me to do it, and you’re seeing the results right now.”

The Bruins were mired in a four-game losing streak before starting their tournament run by defeating Michigan State in overtime in the First Four. They have followed up with double-digit victories over BYU, Abilene Christian and the Crimson Tide.

UCLA has its eyes on reaching the Final Four for the first time since 2008 when it made the last of three straight such appearances under former coach Ben Howland.

The Bruins will again be in the position of needing to score an upset when they play Michigan (23-4), which is playing in the Elite Eight for the fourth time in its last seven NCAA Tournament appearances.

UCLA sophomore swingman Jaime Jaquez Jr. said to go ahead and slap the underdog label on his team because he says the highly confident club won’t wilt under the pressure.

“I don’t want to say invincibility. Everyone is beatable,” Jaquez said. “Everyone has good nights and bad nights. We’re definitely a confident team. We definitely believe in ourselves, even when no one else was or did. So we just believe in each other every single day and knew, if we got this opportunity, we’re going to take full advantage.”

Michigan certainly is operating on all cylinders after trampling fourth-seeded Florida State 76-58 on Sunday.

The Wolverines began their push with wins over Texas Southern and LSU but ramped up their effort against the Seminoles, and the whipping included a 50-28 edge in points in the paint.

“We knew coming in that they were going to switch a lot of ball screens and basically everything,” sophomore guard Franz Wagner said. “So we tried to move the ball. I think a lot of times people get in trouble just holding the ball and dribbling the whole time. So I think we moved the ball pretty well and then attacked close-outs.”

The stellar performance gave Juwan Howard an Elite Eight berth in his second season as Michigan coach.

“As a player, I’ve been to three Elite Eights,” said Howard, referring to the school’s Fab Five era in the early 1990s. “So Michigan has had a lot of success in the basketball program. It’s just beautiful to see that all the hard work is paying off this year.”

The Wolverines are experiencing their March Madness success without standout senior forward Isaiah Livers (foot). Howard said he remains out indefinitely.

This marks the fifth time the schools have met in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins won three of the previous four meetings, including a 91-80 win in the 1965 national championship game when Gail Goodrich poured in 42 points.

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The U.S. had a chance to clinch the group, but finished third and will meet Russia in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Slovakia’s Branko Radivojevic scored 15 seconds into the game when U.S. goaltender Ben Bishop turned the puck over, trying to reach a teammate with a pass.

Martin Bartek made it 2-0 with a goal at 3:44 of the first and Rene Vydareny made it 3-0. Danny Kristo scored for the U.S. in the second period, and Marko Dano added a late empty-net goal.

The U.S. had 23 goals in six games before Tuesday.

“We were hopeful and excited about the opportunity to try to finish first. We were not able to do that but we will be ready for the next opponent,” U.S. coach Joe Sacco said.

“The first two goals were unfortunate, it’s tough to play catch-up. Slovakia made a good job of bottling up the middle of the ice and they protected the front of the net very well. We had a hard time getting there, and when we did their goalie came up big.”

On the first goal, Bishop went behind the net to pick up the puck and pass it to a teammate. He hit the stick of Slovakia forward Tomas Kopecky and the puck went to Radivojevic, who was left with an open net.

“The first one bounced right out in the slot from behind the net. The second one I got to but it just squeaked through,” Bishop said. “Just unlucky goals. Otherwise I think we played a good game, but the other goalie played well. We could have scored five easily. It’s a shame we didn’t win.”

Switzerland won its group, followed by Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Tomas Fleischmann scored twice and the Czech Republic routed Norway 7-0.

In Stockholm, Switzerland defeated Belarus 4-1 for its best group record at the worlds. The Swiss hope to win a medal for the first time since 1953, when they were third among three teams.

Finland will take on Slovakia after winning its group on Antti Pihlstrom’s overtime goal that gave it a 3-2 win against Latvia.

Canada will play host Sweden, which defeated Denmark 4-2 with two goals and five points from Daniel and Henrik Sedin and defenseman Alexander Edler combined.

Also, Christian Ehrhoff scored two goals, including the overtime winner, as Germany beat France 3-2.

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Despite taking an early lead through Roman Neustadter, the German side was ultimately undone by strikes from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz just before the break.

Although Michel Bastos levelled just after the hour, Schalke still needed another as the Turks had scored more away goals and their all-out attack left them vulnerable at the back, with Gala making sure of its progress thanks to Umut Bulut’s injury-time effort.

The Super Lig leader was looking to bounce back from an embarrassing home defeat to Genclerbirligi in its last domestic outing and it started in confident fashion.

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba looked imperious early on and Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had to be at his best to tip the striker’s fierce effort round the post.

The Ivorian then played in Selcuk Inan, who ran through on goal but lost his balance and his shot did not unduly trouble Hildebrand.

It seemed only a matter of time until the Schalke goal was breached but it was the hosts who took a 17-minute lead very much against the run of play.

The visitors failed to clear their lines from a corner and Joel Matip played the ball back to Neustadter, who slotted home with his outstretched left foot.

The strike seemed to settle Schalke, who had won all three league games since the draw with Tuesday night’s opponent in the first leg.

Wesley Sneijder served notice to the Gelsenkirchen side, however, when he fired narrowly wide from just inside the area before Altintop brought the tie back to life in the 37th minute.

Drogba squared a free kick to the Turkey international 25 yards from goal and his fierce blast went in off the post.

And five minutes later, Gala had taken the lead when Burak shrugged off the challenge of Benedikt Howedes and lifted over Hildebrand for his eighth Champions League goal in as many games.

Jens Keller’s men started the second half in positive fashion and Teemu Pukki — starting in place of injured star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar — turned on the edge of the box before his rattling low effort was pushed away by Fernando Muslera at his near post.

The Gala goalkeeper was at fault, however, when Michel Bastos levelled in the 63rd minute.

Marco Hoger fired against the crossbar and although it looked like there would be no follow-up, Muslera fumbled and left Atsuto Uchida to square for the Brazilian to fire into an empty net.

Sneijder went close to immediately regaining the lead for Gala but he hammered wide but it was Schalke who gained the upper hand thereafter, with Muslera slightly redeeming himself by smartly parrying away Julian Draxler’s effort.

Gala then had to make a change as defender Semih Kaya was carried off the pitch having been knocked out although that did not seem to affect the Istanbul side, who held firm in spite of some probing pressure from Schalke.

However, the hosts left themselves wide open to the counter in search of a winner and it was Gala who stole up the other end to make sure of their progress to the quarterfinal.

Substitute Umut beat the offside trap in the fifth minute of injury time and beat Hildebrand at the second attempt to send the visitors wild with joy.

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Messi scored in the fifth and 40th minutes, moving into sole possession of second on the Champions League career scoring list with 58 goals. David Villa put Barcelona ahead in the aggregate series in the 55th minute, and left back Jordi Alba sealed the win when he scored in the second minute of stoppage time.

AC Milan, a seven-time winner of Europe’s top club tournament, won the first leg in Italy on Feb. 20 and nearly got a valuable away goal in the 38th minute, but 18-year-old forward M’baye Niang hit a post with an open shot on a counterattack. If he had tied the game 1-1, Barcelona would have needed at least three more goals at that point to advance because away goals are a tiebreaker.

Messi, the four-time FIFA Player of the Year, passed Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) on the Champions League scoring list and trails only Raul Gonzalez (71). With his 18th multigoal game of the season, Messi increased his season goals total to 53.

In the other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2001.

Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain also are in Friday’s draw. In the final second-round matches Wednesday, Arsenal tries to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Bayern Munich and Porto goes to Malaga with a 1-0 lead.

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It was the second meeting between the two teams in a matter of days, with PSG winning 2-0 in the league fixture on Sunday.

That match saw David Beckham make his debut from the bench for the capital club, and Wednesday he made his first start after joining on a five-month deal last month.

But if the pre-match headlines had focused on the former England international, Ibrahimovic turned the attention his way with the opening goal after 34 minutes from Clement Chantome’s pass.

Marseille were not without their chances, and the match became heated at times as it pushed for an equalizer.

However, Sweden international Ibrahimovic made sure of PSG’s place in the last eight with a 65th-minute penalty after he was brought down in the area by left-back Jeremy Morel.

Beckham’s appearance lasted 86 minutes and he left to warm applause to be replaced by Christophe Jallet.

In other games, Lorient beat Brest 3-0, Nancy won 2-0 in overtime at fifth-division Venissieux Minguettes and Bordeaux defeated non-league Raon-l’Etape 5-3 on penalty kicks following a 2-2 tie.

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Goals by Kroos in the seventh minute and Mueller in the 21st built a 2-0 lead. After Lukas Podolski scored for Arsenal in the 55th, Mario Mandzukic got Bayern’s final goal in the 77th.

The second leg of the total-goals series is in Germany on March 13.

“Let’s not hide the truth,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said, “it will be very difficult. We will try to make the impossible possible.”

In Tuesday’s other game, Joao Moutinho scored in the 56th minute to give Porto a 1-0 win over visiting Malaga.

The first leg ends Wednesday when AC Milan hosts Barcelona and Schalke is at Galatasaray.

While Bayern leads the Bundesliga by 15 points and reached the Champions League final in two of the last three years — losing both — Arsenal is in the midst of the most trying season since Wenger was hired in October 1996.

Arsenal is fifth in the Premier League, 21 points behind first-place Manchester United and four back of rival Tottenham for England’s last berth in next season’s Champions League.

The Gunners, who haven’t won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, were knocked out by fourth-tier Bradford in December’s League Cup quarterfinals and were eliminated from the FA Cup’s fifth round by second-tier Blackburn last season.

Now this year’s Champions League title is a longshot.

“You have to give credit for their class,” Wenger said of Bayern. “In patches in the first half, there was a difference in quality.”

Arsenal central defenders Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny had a poor night, with the first goal coming after Bayern collected an errant clearance from Koscielny. Mueller crossed for Kroos, who beat goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with an 18-yard volley.

Mueller scored when he poked the ball into an unguarded net after Szczesny parried a header from an unmarked Daniel Van Buyten.

Arsenal’s players were jeered when they walked off at halftime, while Bayern fans sang another rendition of “Football’s Coming Home” in English.

“We didn’t start great and that’s been a thing for us this season,” Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere said. “Maybe it’s a bit of nerves or anxiety because we show what we can do when we play.”

Podolski cut the gap when he headed Jack Wilshere’s corner kick into an open net. But Mandzukic finished a sweeping move by bundling in Philipp Lahm’s low cross at the far post, the ball looping up off the Croatian’s heel and beyond Szczesny.

“We are currently in astonishing form,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who will be replaced by Pep Guardiola this summer. “Our quality is we can punish even the smallest mistakes of our opponents.”

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The Portugal international slotted home Alex Sandro’s pinpoint pass 11 minutes into the second half to earn Porto victory in a match of few clearcut chances at the Estadio do Dragao.

The defeat was Malaga’s first in its maiden Champions League campaign, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men will be hopeful of turning things round at La Rosaleda, where they beat both AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg in the group stages.

Two-time former European champions Porto will also be optimistic about their chances of going through to the quarterfinals, although they would have preferred a bigger advantage for the trip to Andalusia.

Vitor Pereira’s hosts dominated the first half in terms of possession and territory, but created little to trouble visiting goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

The majority of Porto’s efforts before the break were off-target, although Marat Izmailov did bring a diving save out of Caballero in the fourth minute.

Porto’s next two chances saw Fernando and Silvestre Varela head Moutinho corners just wide before Caballero was called into action again on the half-hour mark to comfortably gather an optimistic Fernando shot.

At the other end Malaga only ventured deep into Porto territory sporadically as the respective defenses — the tightest in the Portuguese and Spanish leagues this season — held the upper hand.

The home side would have been disappointed not to have worked Caballero more in the first period, but they came out strongly at the start of the second half and took just six minutes to fashion the best chance of the game so far.

Sandro sent over a cross from the left and the stretching Izmailov almost managed to turn it into the net, despite not getting a clean connection on his half-volley.

That was a major let-off for Malaga, but they were not so fortunate five minutes later as 1987 and 2004 champions Porto took the lead through Moutinho following more good work from Sandro.

The Brazilian did well to create space before picking out his teammate’s run into the box with an inch-perfect pass between the Malaga defence and goalkeeper Caballero, which the highly-rated Moutinho clinically side-footed home first time.

That proved to be the only goal of the match as defenses continued to dominate during the closing stages, leaving things finely poised for the second leg.

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World Cup champion Spain leads the rankings and African champion Nigeria moved up 22 places to No. 30 after its victory over Burkina Faso in the African Cup of Nations final.

Spain leads an unchanged top three ahead of Germany and Argentina. Fourth-place England improved two places after beating 18th-ranked Brazil in an exhibition last week. Italy dropped to No.5.

The top ranked African country is No. 12 Ivory Coast, which lost to Nigeria in the quarterfinals.

Mexico leads CONCACAF nations at No. 15. Japan leads Asian nations at No. 28, down seven places.

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