Five takeaways from UCLA’s 80-56 Sweet 16 win over Minnesota

Cori Close has her team in rhythm at the right time, with her team tightening up after halftime to put the Sweet 16 game away. The No. 1 seed UCLA Bruins easily handled No. 4 seed Minnesota 80-56 to advance to the Elite Eight.

34 wins is quite the benchmark

It’s a second-straight season in the Sweet 16 win and a second-straight season that UCLA has reached 34 wins. Last year, the 34 wins set a new program record, this year it only matches it. The Bruins will have a chance in the Elite Eight to break the record and advance to the Final Four.

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UCLA must knock down threes at a better clip

UCLA’s three-point shooting has yet to pop in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins made 13 threes in the Big Ten championship game against Iowa, since then UCLA have made five, seven and four threes in NCAA tournament games. UCLA’s 25% from three cannot continue for the Bruins as they get set to enter the top teams in the country.

Don’t expect things to get any easier

Minnesota is a good team that had a very good season but the path will be even tougher from here out. Whoever comes out on top in the Duke-LSU game is a dangerous team and then the Bruins could face two different No. 1 seeds in the Final Four.

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UCLA’s defense disrupted the Golden Gophers

While the shooting has been mediocre, UCLA has played some excellent defense. Against Minnesota, UCLA had 11 steals and nine blocks. Lauren Betts had five blocks with Kiki Rice leading the way with three steals.