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Full coverage: 2023 NCAA basketball tournament

UCLA forward Kenneth Nwuba is knocked to the floor by Gonzaga's Drew Timme in a Sweet 16 game at T-Mobile Arena.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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UCLA’s men’s and women’s teams saw their NCAA tournament runs end in Sweet 16 heartbreak.

The UCLA men and Gonzaga had met three times on college basketball’s biggest stage, producing some of the event’s most iconic moments.

Thursday night was no exception, as the Bruins lost a 13-point lead to Gonzaga early in the second half of their NCAA tournament West Region semifinal, falling behind by 10. They stormed all the way back, surging ahead by one point on Amari Bailey’s fearless three-pointer with 12.4 seconds left.

Only to be undone by a Julian Strawther 35-footer with seven seconds remaining.

The UCLA women’s team, the No. 4 seed in the Greenville Regional 1, took on its biggest test yet: a Sweet 16 matchup against No. 1 ranked defending champion South Carolina.

One of five teams in the regular season to keep South Carolina to a single-digit win margin, the Bruins (27-10) couldn’t conjure the same energy in the postseason duel as the Gamecocks won their 41st consecutive game.

Check out The Times’ complete coverage of the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments.

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