It took nearly everything they had in the tank, but the Bruins did it.
UCLA needed two overtimes, a Willis Reed moment from senior guard Norman Powell and the performance of a lifetime from freshman forward Kevon Looney, but the team got a win, finally.
In the midst of a five-game losing streak, including four-straight losses on the road, the Bruins returned home Thursday, playing its first game in Pauley Pavilion in nearly a month.
And for the first time in over a month, UCLA finally looked like they belonged, beating Stanford 86-81 in double overtime.
They showed it with a dominant final 10 minutes of regulation, holding the Cardinal to just five points and completing a 14-point comeback.
They showed it in the first overtime, when sophomore guard Bryce Alford, despite having missed 39 of his previous 51 shots, drained a fall-away three-pointer with six seconds left to give UCLA a one-point lead.
They proved it in the final seconds of the second overtime, as junior forward/center Tony Parker slammed home a dunk that was a statement as much as a clincher.
“It was big time,” Parker said of snapping the losing streak. “We knew we had to get a win and we needed to do anything we could to do it.”
After initally grabbing an early lead, thanks to the effective use of a three-quarter-court press, UCLA (9-7, 1-2 Pac-12) found itself trailing Stanford (10-4, 2-1) 37-32 at halftime.
Following a four-game road trip in which the Bruins scored more than 20 first-half points and trailed by single digits at halftime just once, the five-point deficit was progress.
Moral victories don’t affect the win column, however.
So when they found themselves trailing by 14 with 9:57 left to play, the Bruins took a stand.
After weathering a deluge of three pointers from the Cardinal – Stanford hit 15 of its 31 shots from beyond the arc – the Bruins put a lock on their basket, holding the Cardinal to just five points for the remainder of regulation.
Still, down 14, UCLA’s offense needed to do its part. Looney did most of it himself.
The freshman took over, scoring 10 points in the final 8:30 of regulation, including a thunderous fast break dunk that brought the Bruins within four with under six minutes to go. Looney finished his career night with 27 points and 19 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive rebounds.
“We knew it was a must-win,” Looney said. “I knew we were down … I just picked up another gear and got it going.”
From there, a pair of free throws by Looney and a deep three-pointer from Alford gave UCLA a one-point lead.
Stanford senior guard Chasson Randle split a pair of free throws to tie the game with less than two minutes remaining, but two minutes weren’t enough. Overtime awaited.
Stanford took control of the extra period, its perimeter shooting keeping it a step ahead of UCLA. But the Bruins stayed alive, through Looney’s power of will if nothing else.
The freshman hit a clutch corner three-pointer with just over a minute left in overtime to tie the game at 72. Another three-pointer in response by Randle gave the Cardinal back the lead, but with 22.7 seconds to go, the Bruins were only down two, with the ball and a chance to win.
Alford converted on that chance. He caught an inbound pass in the corner and fell to his right as he shot, hitting the three-pointer to give his team a one-point lead with six seconds remaining.
Four seconds later, Alford turned from hero to culprit. Called for a shooting foul – his fifth – Alford gave Randle a chance to give Stanford the victory. But as Randle’s second attempt clanked off the iron, the Bruins escaped to double overtime. They’d be without Alford, however, who had 15 points before fouling out.
Replacing him was Powell, who had left for the locker room earlier after sustaining a hip injury from falling. Despite the pain and coach Steve Alford’s hesitance, Powell laced up and following a go-ahead three-pointer by sophomore guard Isaac Hamliton and an insurance dunk by Parker, hit a pair of free throws to ensure a UCLA victory.
“It was player after player after player coming up with incredible play after incredible play,” Alford said. “I’ve been doing this a long time – 24 years – and I’ve been proud of an awful lot of teams after certain games, but no more any prouder than this one with this group of young men.”