King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Gonzaga's choke for the ages, LSU's upset of Duke highlight a stellar night at the Sweet 16.

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March 24, 2006 | That was a choke, right? Is there any other way to describe the end of Thursday night's UCLA-Gonzaga game in Oakland than as a choke job by the Zags?

UCLA scored the last 11 points of the game, winning 73-71 after Gonzaga failed to protect the ball and a one-point lead in the closing seconds.

All credit to the Bruins. They had about 20 chances to curl up and let the rout roll over them. They didn't. A young team, they showed veteran character by hanging around, and when Gonzaga left the door open at the end, UCLA took advantage.

But how could Gonzaga have left that door open? This game was over. It was won. Even after losing most of an 11-point lead, it still came down to not losing the ball in the last 20 seconds, making some foul shots. And the Zags lost the ball in the last 20 seconds.

Jordan Farmar stole it from J.P. Batista, the strongest man on the floor failing to be strong with the ball. Farmar found Luc Richard Mbah a Moute cutting to the basket unguarded, and Mbah a Moute scored the winning basket with nine seconds to go.

That was only one of three fabulous games, great finishes, Thursday night. LSU upset Duke 62-54 in a nip-and-tuck game in Atlanta in which the Tigers' athleticism and speed proved too much for the Blue Devils.

Also in Atlanta, Kevin Pittsnoggle's dramatic three-pointer pulled West Virginia into a 71-71 tie with Texas with five seconds left. And five seconds is exactly how long Kenton Paulino needed to hit his own three, a classic buzzer-beater that gave Texas the win.

In the other game in Oakland, Memphis pounded Bradley back to earth, 80-64.

UCLA will get a lot of praise for its character and perseverance, and yeah, sure thing. But that coughing sound you heard Thursday night was Gonzaga.

UCLA got off to a hideous start. Jittery doesn't begin to describe it. The Bruins missed their first nine shots and had six turnovers before their first field goal, which came more than eight minutes in. At one point they had the ball stolen on four straight possessions. Gonzaga jumped out to a 17-5 lead.

The Bruins staggered under that double-digit deficit for the rest of the half, trailing by 13 at the break, then got within six early in the second half, couldn't get closer and eventually fell back to double digits.

But after Zags star Adam Morrison hit a pair of free throws with 3:27 to go, Gonzaga didn't score again.

Next page: Fumbles and missed fallaways. Plus: LSU's shot blockers. And: Foul trouble