SMU vs. UCLA: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2015

It didn't take long for the 2015 NCAA tournament to get its first taste of controversy. The No. 11 UCLA Bruins overcame an incredible second-half rally from No. 6 SMU and topped the Mustangs 60-59 Thursday, fueled by a fateful late goaltending call.

Bruins guard Bryce Alford led all scorers with 27 points, but it's his last three-pointer that will be debated for some time.

With 13 seconds remaining and UCLA down two points, Alford took a shot from beyond the arc that was obviously going wide, but SMU center Yanick Moreira reached up and appeared to tip the ball. Referees whistled him for goaltending, which gave UCLA a 60-59 lead.

The Mustangs raced down the court for two good game-winning looks from Nic Moore, but he couldn't put in a buzzer-beater, and the Bruins survived for the upset to face No. 14 UAB on Saturday for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Pressed for his opinion on the call, head coach Steve Alford left that up to the officials, per Martin Rickman of UpRoxx.com:

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The feeling in the other locker room was understandably one of despair and confusion, as USA Today's Nicole Auerbach captured:

The National Coordinator of Officiating gave an explanation of the call:

Trailing by 10 with 12 minutes left, SMU made a furious charge with 19 unanswered points to take a commanding nine-point lead down the stretch. The Mustangs also led 59-52 before UCLA rattled off the game's final eight points, and SMU turned the ball over up two with 26 seconds left to give Alford his winning look.

Moore helped to lead SMU's comeback bid in the second half, but his 24 points made him the only Mustangs starter in double figures. Markus Kennedy poured in 16 points off the bench, but it wasn't enough.

The first half was more or less a feeling-out process. Eight lead changes came in the opening frame, but the Bruins found themselves in front more often, and they held a 34-30 advantage at halftime.

Even more promising for UCLA was the fact that Tony Parker wasn't in the fold for much of that span, per the Los Angeles Times' Zach Helfand:

The Bruins continued their run into the second half, taking a double-digit lead for the first time all game at 44-34. But the Mustangs woke up at the perfect time.

A turnover here, a missed shot there, and suddenly, UCLA went from up 10 to down nine. The energy the Mustangs lacked in the first half seemed to be there down the stretch, but the Bruins' disappearing act was nonetheless perplexing, as SB Nation's Ryan Nanni noted:

SMU head coach Larry Brown's energy level was down as he battled bronchitis on the bench, but he asked his players for more energy in his halftime interview, and they seemed to respond, per Abbey Mastracco of Fox Sports:

But even though the Mustangs took over the game's momentum in dominant fashion, the Bruins kept the back-and-forth affair going. It came almost exclusively from Alford, who had five of the Bruins' second-half field goals—all three-pointers.

UCLA wouldn't have had a chance for Alford's game-winner without a crushing late turnover by SMU, as Cannen Cunningham threw the ball directly to the Bruins' Thomas Welsh. That gave Alford one last opportunity that needed nothing more than a favorable call from the referee.

While the call itself seemed to unnerve plenty of folks around the nation, the decision not to review it at all perplexed even more, per The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre:

The play will go down in history in a number of different ways, depending on one's allegiances and view of the goaltending rule in general. But for the Bruins, it's nothing more than a validation that they indeed belong in the field.

After UAB's stunning upset of third-seeded Iowa State in the early game in Louisville, a double-digit seed is guaranteed to make the Sweet 16, as UCLA will advance to be a likely favorite against the No. 14 seed Blazers on Saturday. Just 5.1 percent of ESPN brackets picked the Conference USA squad to pull an upset, according to ESPN Stats & Info, but UAB turned in the first big shocker of March Madness.

UCLA's opening win of the tournament may have come with a fair share of controversy, but it does nothing to erase the fact that the Bruins are still alive and moving on in the Big Dance. And thanks to another second-round upset in Louisville, UCLA's hopes of making it even further received a major boost.