As the adage goes in college basketball, always foul up 3 if you're protecting a lead in the final seconds. There should now be an asterisk next to said adage that suggests UCLA should avoid the strategy altogether.
UCLA followed the blueprint Saturday night against Utah with six seconds remaining in regulation, and still managed to lose. Utah's Sedrick Barefield made both free throws, and the Utes immediately fouled. On the other end, David Singleton made one of two free throws to push UCLA's lead to two, but it wasn't a safe enough lead to prevent Parker Van Dyke from hitting a Parker Van Dagger on the Bruins.
Botched fouling strategy aside, UCLA deserved to lose this game. It had no business even letting this one come down to the wire. Here is how many points the Bruins led by in the second half, by time stamp.
- 20:00: 17 points
- 15:58: 20 points
- 12:10: 22 points
- 9:21: 19 points
- 6:19: 17 points
- 2:44: 10 points
- 1:27: 6 points
- 0:00: -1 points
UCLA has been credited with a ton of innovation in athletics, and in men's college basketball. Now we can officially tack another achievement to that list: Losing a basketball game in the most inexplicable way.