UCLA's Drew gets it together for final NCAA run

AUSTIN, TEXAS – For Larry Drew II, it was a moment that couldn't be faked.

Moments after the UCLA point guard had discovered what his team thought was something of a minor injury to all-around star Jordan Adams was actually a season-ending broken foot, the cameras were there, in the Bruins locker room.

With the news so fresh, and the ramifications so big, Drew couldn't hold it in. Tears streamed down the senior's face as he spoke to reporters, distraught.

A week passed between that game in the Pacific-12 tournament in Las Vegas, and UCLA's 83-63 NCAA tournament loss to the Gophers on Friday, and a lot happened.

Adjustments had to be made, attitudes changed. It was a new team starting a new season.

"I knew I had to move on," Drew said. "We couldn't really be stuck on that forever. ... So I shook it off and I got focused."

Drew won a national championship with North Carolina in 2009 but left the Tar Heels after 2½ seasons to join the Bruins. He didn't have a memorable final college game, with four points, three assists and five turnovers in 39 minutes while shooting 1-for-6 from the floor..

Without Adams, Muhammad went in as the Bruins' biggest offensive threat. He scored 20 points — 15 coming after halftime — but shot 6-for-18 from the floor.

"Shabazz Muhammad. That's the key to their team," the Gophers' Rodney Williams said.

• Gophers players were happy to get away from the grind-it-out, half-court setting that is seen so much in Big Ten play. "It is a little bit refreshing," Austin Hollins said. "They're no Wisconsin or anything."

• The Gophers' victory completed a mostly successful Thursday and Friday for the Big Ten, which saw its teams go 6-1. Wisconsin was the lone loser, falling to Mississippi earlier Friday. The average margin of victory for the Gophers, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan and Illinois was 18.3 points.