Yet, with four seconds to play and the Spartans (19-5) down just 78-76, they somehow managed to give themselves hope. After a missed free throw by Bruins’ guard Malcolm Lee, MSU not only had hope, the Spartans also had the ball.

It wouldn’t be enough, though, as senior guard Kalin Lucas traveled with less than a second to play, giving UCLA (23-10), the 78-76 win and ending MSU’s season.

But despite the unfortunate outcome, head coach Tom Izzo said the way the Spartans’ fought to the bitter end couldn’t have made him prouder of his team.

“They’ve been knocked down so many times this year,” Izzo said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a team go through this much. But they battled back and gave themselves a chance, and I’m incredibly grateful to them.”

Thursday night’s game started with UCLA going on a 7-0 run, and already early on, it appeared as if the Bruins were going to run away with the game.

After UCLA built a 10-3 lead, MSU went on a quick 5-0 run to cut the lead to two and forced Bruins head coach Ben Howland to call a timeout.

However, whatever Howland said to his team during the break worked, and that two-point deficit would be the closest the Spartans would get for a long time.

UCLA proceeded to go on a 16-3 run in the next six minutes to take a 26-13 lead. The run, much like most of the first half, was sparked by MSU’s sloppy ballhandling and inability to keep the Bruins off the offensive boards.

The Spartans finished the half with nine turnovers and allowed UCLA to grab 11 offensive rebounds, which more often than not, the Bruins converted into points.

“They outrebounded us bad in the first half,” Izzo said. “They got every loose ball. It was the only thing I was disappointed in all night.”

Meanwhile, MSU got nothing from senior guard Kalin Lucas in the first half. Lucas failed to score in the first 20 minutes and finished the first half shooting 0-for-7 from the field. After the game, Lucas broke down when trying to talk about his early struggles, so junior forward Draymond Green spoke for him.

“I know it had to be rough on him,” Green said. “He hasn’t had many games where he just couldn’t get anything to fall.”

With Lucas struggling, MSU had trouble offensively and ended the half down 42-24. Senior guard Durrell Summers did step up, though, scoring 12 points in the first half.

Summers finished the half as the only MSU player with more than four points, but he finally received some help in the second half as the Spartans refused to let their season end quietly. With 7:44 left to play, Lucas finally made his first field goal of the game. And despite still being down 64-45, Lucas’ first basket ignited MSU, which still had a little bit of fight left.

Lucas nailed a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to make it 76-69 in favor of the Bruins. After a UCLA turnover, it was freshman guard Keith Appling’s turn to hit a 3-pointer, which cut the lead to four with 59 seconds to play.

Lucas and Bruins’ forward Reeves Nelson then traded free throws, before Appling struck again with another 3-pointer to cut the UCLA lead to one with just more than four seconds on the clock.

MSU immediately fouled, sending guard Malcolm Lee to the line. Lee made the first but missed the second, giving the Spartans a chance to win or tie. However, after receiving a pass from freshman center Adreian Payne, Lucas traveled on his way upcourt with less than a second to play, ending the Spartans’ hopes of a comeback.

Lucas ended the game with 11 points — four short of 2,000 for his career. Green, who was key in MSU’s comeback, quietly recorded his second triple-double of the season with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.