LATIMES.COM/SPORTS MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020 D3 UCLA-USC WOMEN’S ROUNDUP Bruins secure the No. 2 seed Wilder will get staff and wire reports on Friday. Japreece Dean, who was Fury rematch honored during senior-day It was midway through festivities along with Ally the first quarter, and UCLA Rosenblum, had a game- all seven rounds Feb. 22 at already had a 13-point lead. high 16 points with eight as- Ex-champion exercises the MGM Grand, prompting The Bruins hadn’t yet al- sists, scoring just one field Wilder’s corner to throw in lowed a field goal. A first- goal but going 14 for 14 on free right for a third fight; the towel. The contract for round Pac-12 tournament throws. it’s slated to be held the sequel contained a bilat- bye was already in place. But With their coach implor- eral clause that gave the los- coach Cori Close still ing them to compete every July 18 in Las Vegas. ing fighter a 30-day window shouted as if there were sec- possession, the Bruins over- to ask for a rematch and for By Manouk Akopyan onds left in a championship came miserable 31.9% shoot- it to take place by July. game. ing from the field with sus- The third Fury-Wilder “I wanted them to feel tained energy. They had 29 The first significant fight will be another Fox and from me that I’m going to offensive rebounds and a heavyweight championship ESPN pay-per-view event, treat it” like the postseason, season-high 55 total re- trilogy of the 21st century is marking the second time the Close said after UCLA’s 77- bounds. They pulled down slated to take place in a sum- networks have cooperated 54 rout of Utah (13-16, 6-12) on five offensive rebounds in mer showdown in Sin City. to put on a boxing showcase. Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. one possession. Almost a week after De- Their first foray yielded “It’s here. You cannot rest for — Thuc Nhi Nguyen ontay Wilder lost via techni- nearly 800,000 PPV buys. one second.” cal knockout to Tyson Fury, Wilder and Fury had a 50- No. 9 UCLA kept its focus at USC 66, Colorado 55: the former champion exer- 50 split in purses for the sec- through shooting woes and The Trojans (16-13, 8-10) beat cised his right to a rematch ond fight, but Fury will get a senior celebrations, and se- Colorado on senior day to against newly crowned 60-40 pay advantage in the cured the program’s best wrap up the regular season World Boxing Council and third fight, per the previous Pac-12 finish in Close’s nine- and secure the No. 7 seed in lineal champion Fury, and a contract that was signed year tenure. The No. 2- the Pac-12 tournament. third fight between the ahead of the rematch. seeded Bruins (25-4, 14-4) Freshmen Alissa Pili and heavyweights is being The first Wilder and Fury will face No. 7 seed USC or Endyia Rogers each scored planned for July 18 at the encounter in 2018, a contro- No. 10 seed Colorado in the 20 points. Pili also had 13 re- Katharine Lotze Getty Images MGM Grand Garden Arena versial split-decision draw at Pac-12 tournament quarter- bounds for her 11th double- UCLA’S Japreece Dean shoots against Utah at Pauley in Las Vegas, according to Staples Center, netted finals in Las Vegas at 6 p.m. double of the season. Pavilion. She went 14 for 14 at the free-throw line. Top Rank head Bob Arum, roughly 325,000 buys on pre- Fury’s co-promoter. mium cable provider Show- “We received a letter from time. Wilder’s team on Friday Another Fury and Wilder night, and we agreed with meeting will mirror the glory Cronin’s magic is working at UCLA the networks and the hotel days of heavyweight trilo- that July 18 was the optimal gies in boxing. date,” Arum said. “We had a It will join the likes of [Hernández, from D1] described as one of the best opponents to the free-throw seamless promotion last Muhammad Ali versus Joe Members of UCLA roy- of his career. But when line, they were able to de- time with Al Haymon, PBC Frazier as well as Ali versus alty who attended the UCLA played North Car- fend more aggressively. [Premier Boxing Champi- Ken Norton from the 1970s; team’s most recent game — olina in Las Vegas the next They also were smart ons] and Fox. We look for- Evander Holyfield versus Gail Goodrich, Bill Walton, day, the Bruins were taken with the ball, committing ward to working with them Riddick Bowe from the Jamaal Wilkes and Baron apart 74-64. only one turnover in the again.” 1990s; and the three Ingemar Davis — were living remind- “It just wasn’t manifest- second half. Fury, of Britain, battered Johansson-Floyd Patterson ers of what these Bruins ing itself in the games,” he Cronin has reeducated and bruised Wilder through fights from 1959 to 1961. aren’t. said. more than the players. He Under Cronin, the 11-time It is now. also has reconditioned the national champions have A 69-64 victory over fans. exchanged the glamour of Arizona at Pauley Pavilion Less than two minutes Hollywood for the tenacity on Saturday night was a into the game, Arizona was of Los Angeles, their tri- perfect representation of unable to pass the ball in- umphs a result of them the team UCLA has become. side and moved it around Sierra Canyon hurling their bodies after The Bruins made only a the perimeter. As the shot loose balls rather than third of their shots from the clock wound down to five punctuating fast breaks Jayne Kamin-Oncea Getty Images field, including 23.1% in the seconds, then four, the with high-flying dunks. DAVID SINGLETON first half. Leading scorer crowd started to applaud in The magician himself and the Bruins are on a Chris Smith finished with 17 appreciation of the Bruins’ gets No. 1 seed couldn’t envision this. roll under Mick Cronin. points but on only five-for-15 defensive effort. The claps “There were days I didn’t shooting. Point guard Tyger became full-blown cheers know if I’d make it through when everything came Campbell banked in a go- when UCLA forward Jalen Harvard-Westlake is 2-0 the year, physically,” Cronin together for the team. ahead basket with 49 sec- Hill collected the rebound Southern California against Centennial this sea- said. “I was just hoping in “That’s the million-dollar onds to play, but missed his from the low-percentage son. Mater Dei will play the December I could make it to question I don’t have the previous 10 shots. shot the Wildcats misfired. Open Division will winner of the game between January. Then I was hoping answer to,” he said. The heroics of Smith and The fans were like this include only Southern No. 3 Rancho Cucamonga I could make it to February The Bruins have won 11 of Campbell were made pos- the entire game, celebrating Etiwanda and No. 6 Temec- and stay upright all year.” their last 13 games. Right sible by a defense that when Jules Bernard blocked Section playoff teams. ula Rancho Christian. Cronin had to do more before that stretch, they stopped Arizona on six a shot or Jaime Jaquez Jr. The challenge for Sierra By Eric Sondheimer than impart a new mind-set. were beaten at home by consecutive possessions leaped to save a ball from Canyon is whether its play- Convincing the players to Stanford, prompting Cronin over a 3-minute 27-second falling out of bounds. ers will have the same prioritize defense and to to verbally administer a stretch. The Bruins turned a The sounds in the arena Chatsworth Sierra Can- hunger they showed to win a exert effort on that end of dose of his trademark tough 62-58 deficit into a 68-62 were familiar. These were yon already proved it is the section title. They’ll be tak- the court was only the start. love on the players. advantage. the cries of a crowd that was best boys’ basketball team ing on opponents who have “Lot of people talk about But Cronin believes the Cronin made it a point to looking forward to March. in Southern California by become familiar with them playing hard,” Cronin said. team’s transformation was a mention how the Bruins Cronin presumably will winning the Southern Sec- and would love to make their “It’s not enough. We really, gradual process, not the didn’t just play defense. have better teams in the tion Open Division title. season by ending Sierra really didn’t play smart for a byproduct of a singular They played smart defense. future. But this season Now the Trailblazers will Canyon’s 16-game playoff couple months. It deflates event. The Bruins didn’t com- always will be special, as he have to defeat some of the win streak. your energy when you play “We had been practicing mit their seventh foul of the did something few UCLA same teams again if they One surprise was City defense and somebody better than we played for a second half until there were coaches before him have want to repeat as Open Divi- Section Open Division doesn’t do something long time,” he said. only 10 seconds to play.