Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA Make Fans Sweat in Narrow Win vs. Northwestern

Jaime Jaquez Jr. continued his strong start to the NCAA tournament Saturday night, and UCLA needed every bit of his performance as the Bruins had a nervy performance in their 68-63 win over Northwestern at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Jaquez dropped a game-high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists as the Bruins managed to hold off the surging Wildcats, who were able to crawl their way back into the game from a double-digit first-half deficit.

The Bruins led by as many as 13 in the first 20 minutes and took a 35-25 lead into halftime, but Northwestern's hot start to the second half saw the Wildcats tie things up at 45 with 11 minutes remaining.

They were never able to take the lead, however, thanks to timely shot-making from UCLA.

For the third straight year, UCLA has danced its way into the Sweet 16, and with Kansas getting upset against Arkansas earlier in the day, the No. 2 Bruins remain the highest seed left in the West Region.

UCLA fans were hyped on Twitter, though there were some nervous moments.

The win wasn't all positive for UCLA, however, as fifth-year guard David Singleton went down with what looked like a nasty ankle injury in the final minutes of the game. Singleton hit the three-pointer that put the Bruins up six with under two minutes remaining.

He was taken to the locker room but was later seen back on the bench and participating in the postgame handshake line.

Already without Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark, who will miss the rest of the year with an Achilles injury suffered in UCLA's regular-season finale, the potential loss of Singleton would be a significant blow for the Bruins.

They will now look to rest up for the second weekend and are set to face the winner between No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 6 TCU, who will play Sunday.

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