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UCLA Men's Basketball Team Lands In Final Four After An Upset Victory

Johnny Juzang of the UCLA Bruins celebrates with Jaylen Clark after defeating the Michigan Wolverines 51-49 in the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 30, 2021. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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For the first time since 2008, the UCLA men's basketball team is headed to the Final Four, after a 51-49 upset win over the top-seeded Michigan Wolverines.

Sam Connon, a sports writer for the Daily Bruin, was in Indianapolis covering Tuesday night's game. He says while the arena seemed to contain more Michigan fans, Bruin supporters weren't drowned out:

"It got loud. UCLA fans were out there for real. They were chanting by the end of the game, all the classics, eight claps, the 'Let's go Bruins.' It was really interesting to hear that and be in the building for that after a year dominated by COVID, where all of the cheering was done by teammates on the bench," Connon says.

Jaylen Clark (#0), Johnny Juzang (#3) and Kenneth Nwuba (#14) of the UCLA Bruins celebrate after defeating the Michigan Wolverines 51-49 in the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 30, 2021. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The victory also led to celebrations closer to home. Hundreds of fans and students too kto the streets of Westwood on Tuesday night to celebrate the victory — and there wasn't a lot of social distancing. Television footage showed groups of of tightly packed people, not all of whom were wearing masks. Firefighters and police responded after some people in the crowd set couches and other items on fire, then set off fireworks. No reports of any arrests.
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Most of the games the Bruins played in the regular season didn't have any fans in the stands, except for a couple that allowed friends and family. The NCAA allowed fan attendance up to 25% capacity for March Madness.

The 11th seeded Bruins will face the tournament's #1 team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, on Saturday. The game starts at 5:34 p.m. Pacific Time and airs on CBS.

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