Ten years ago today, an underachieving UCLA men’s basketball team pulled off a dramatic upset over the country’s top team in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament. UCLA carried a 9–18 record into the tournament as the No. 8 seed and had lost its two regular-season games against Arizona by a combined margin of 71 points, but managed to pull of an improbable 96–89 victory in overtime. Down three points with 11 seconds left, UCLA gave the ball to senior guard Ray Young, who converted a three-pointer to knot the score at 82–82 and send the game to overtime. The Bruins outscored the Wildcats by seven points in the overtime period, thanks largely to timely free-throw shooting.
The game took place during a tumultuous time for the basketball program. While Dan Guerrero was finishing out his first year as athletic director, seven-year head coach Steve Lavin’s job was in jeopardy as the basketball program was headed for its first losing season since 1948.
UCLA lost to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament the following day, and Lavin was fired on March 17.
