MEMPHIS, Tenn. — No. 4 seed UCLA trailed by as little as a point with 10 minutes to play but struggled to keep up with No. 1 seed Florida down the stretch as the Gators won the South region semifinal matchup at FedExForum 79-68.
Florida’s Michael Frazier II scored a team high 19 points and made five of his first six three attempts to lead the Gators to Saturday’s regional final against the No. 11 seeded University of Dayton Flyers.
UCLA went on a 7-0 run from the 11:44 mark in the second half to the 10 minute mark, but failed to draw the contest back to even in the game’s most critical stretch, trailing Florida 58-55 for more than two-and-a-half minutes but never passing the ball around long enough to find an open look.
Sophomore guard Jordan Adams gave UCLA, which trailed 36-30 at the half, its biggest spark in the second half, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the final half on 5-of-10 shooting.
The loss was UCLA’s first since a March 8 dud at Washington State. The Gators remain unbeaten since a Dec. 2 loss to the Connecticut Huskies.
Compiled by Andrew Erickson, Bruin Sports senior staff.