No. 4 UCLA was able to stave off a possible upset from No. 13 Akron in the Round of 64.
Even with Campbell’s streak, the Bruins still had to sweat the final moments after a missed free throw and Jamie Jacquez Jr. missing a jumper with 15 seconds left. Akron’s Ali Ali drove to the basket but didn’t have a clean look and was blocked by Cody Riley.
"This reminds me of my Big East days. You’re going to win a rock fight, you’ve got to put your hardhat on and you’ve got to take care of the ball, get some extra possessions," UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. "And the offensive rebounding was huge, and we didn’t turn it over. We were able to finally get some — hang in there and get some stops and get a few shots to go down."
Xavier Castaneda led Akron with 18 points and Enrique Freeman added 14 before fouling out with 2:26 remaining on an illegal screen. Ali, the Zips’ leading scorer, was held to five points after averaging nearly 15 per game. A year after an unexpected run to the Final Four, the Bruins entered the tournament a trendy selection to make a run in the wide-open East. They nearly became another upset victim for Groce, who lost in the opening round of the tournament for the first time after going 3-0 in his previous NCAA trips as the coach at Ohio and Illinois. Akron was a 13 1/2-point underdog, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
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