2015 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 11 UCLA Bruins vs. No. 14 UAB Blazers

The South region is officially the upset region of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The first huge upset that busted nearly every bracket around the country happened early Thursday when No. 14 seed UAB shocked No. 3 seed and Final Four hopeful Iowa State.

Not long after, the No. 11 seed in the region, the UCLA Bruins, punched their ticket to the Round of 32 by stunning No. 6 SMU with a late comeback victory.

It’s a rare No. 11 versus No. 14 matchup in the NCAA Tournament with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

What To Watch For

Both teams could not be any happier with how the tournament has played out so far. Not only did they pull off major upsets in their opening games, but they get to face a double-digit seed in their next game. Each team should be feeling confident heading into Saturday’s matchup against an opposing team with an arguably less inferior team than their previous opponent.

UAB’s upset win over Iowa State was one that nobody saw coming. With stifling on-ball defense, the Blazers frustrated the usually explosive Cyclones offense to a season-low scoring output of just 59 points. UAB dominated the boards and snagged an incredible 52 rebounds to just 37 for Iowa State. Junior guard Robert Brown paced the team offensively with 21 points.

UCLA blew an early lead in their win over SMU before coming back in the last seconds to advance. Bryce Alford nailed nine of 11 three-pointers, with his final make coming on a controversial goaltending call with only 13 seconds remaining. The Bruins offense as a whole struggled throughout the contest, with the entire rest of the roster scoring just 33 points to Alford’s own 27.

Expect another low scoring game between the Bruins and Blazers. The two teams scratched and clawed their ways to one-point 60-59 victories and another physical contest should be in store.

Prediction

UAB managed to shut down one of the best offensive teams in the country. While there’s no doubt that Iowa State didn’t play their usual dynamic offensive game, the Blazers smothered any opening the Cyclones managed to get.

Bryce Alford single-handedly carried UCLA over SMU. UAB will force the rest of the Bruins to beat them and do whatever they can to not let Alford get any open looks. It will be a hard-fought and close game throughout, but in the end, the UAB Blazers will advance to the Sweet 16.

UAB 65 UCLA 63

Seth Lassen is a writer for RantSports. “Like” him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @Seth_Lassen.