“Heartbreak City!”
Those two words from broadcaster Gus Johnson, combined with the tears that streamed down Adam Morrison’s face as Johnson said them, defined one of the most authentic March moments the men’s NCAA tournament has ever provided. UCLA’s 17-point comeback, capped in the final seconds by a steal from Jordan Farmar and layup by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, sent home what was then a perennial Cinderella in Gonzaga with perhaps its best chance yet at a title run.
Seventeen years to the day later, the two programs will meet again in the Sweet 16. The venue this time is Las Vegas rather than Oakland, the coach for UCLA Mick Cronin, not Ben Howland. Morrison’s only impact on the game will be as a radio broadcaster for Gonzaga. Well, that plus an AT&T commercial he stars in that pokes fun at that tearful moment. (Mike Roth, Gonzaga’s AD, quipped to Morrison, “I’m glad you’re finally getting paid for that shit,” after seeing the commercial.)
But UCLA and Gonzaga, now two powerhouses of West Coast college basketball, are forever linked by two iconic tournament games: The “Morrison Crying” game in 2006, and Jalen Suggs’s buzzer-beating winner in the Final Four in 2021. And with plenty of familiar faces on display from the last Big Dance meeting, these two budding rivals may have another classic in store.