UST Gym shocker: Last-place NU holds UP to 47 points in 20-point beatdown

MANILA, Philippines – If it were up to the UP Fighting Maroons, they may plead to never play in the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion ever again.

Right in the heart of Manila, Jhocson’s NU Bulldogs handed down a shocking 67-47 beatdown of the perennial championship contenders to breathe life in their fading UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball campaign on Sunday, November 3.

Technically still in the hunt for a Final Four spot, the hard-luck Bulldogs rode a 20-4 start in the wire-to-wire win to tie Ateneo in seventh place with a 3-8 record, while UP missed out on an outright twice-to-beat bonus in sliding to a 9-2 card.

Veteran gunner Patrick Yu had one of his best games in the blue and gold colors with 17 points on a 5-of-7 clip from downtown — 3 coming from the Bulldogs’ dreamlike third-quarter blitz that gave them a 55-31 separation heading to the fourth.

After Yu drained what would be his final trey with 6:42 to play, 60-35, Nat Tulabut then pushed NU ahead by a game-high 27-point margin off a floater at the 6:05 mark, 62-35, which UP never came close to threatening again despite a 9-0 response that got the deficit under 20, 46-64, with 3:19 left.

“Finally we got a second-round win, I thought we were jinxed,” NU head coach Jeff Napa said in Filipino as the Bulldogs snapped a three-game slump.

“The players got the game and they really enjoyed what they were doing. We’re here now, we can’t do anything about our placing, but as long as we compete, we just want to finish this season strong.”

UP’s Aldous Torculas made the most of his 10-minute run off the bench with a team-high 13-point outing on 4-of-5 shooting, while JD Cagulangan posted a highly unusual line of 8 points, 6 rebounds – all offensive – 1 assist, 2 steals, and a game-worst 9 turnovers in 29 minutes.

No other Maroon scored more than 4 points as they collectively shot 26% from the field (17-of-65), 14% from three (4-of-29), and 38% from the line (9-of-24), on top of a whopping 30 turnovers.

The forgettable game also gave head coach Goldwin Monteverde a smattering of dubious records under his four-year watch: worst field goal percentage, lowest point total, and biggest losing margin.

The Scores

NU 67 – Yu 17, Figueroa 11, Palacielo 9, Santiago 8, Lim 5, Manansala 4, Perciano 4, Tulabut 4, Jumamoy 3, Garcia 2, Padrones 0, Enriquez 0, Parks 0, Francisco 0.

UP 47 – Torculas 13, Cagulangan 8, Millora-Brown 4, Briones 4, Torres 3, Fortea 3, Abadiano 2, Lopez 2, Bayla 2, Stevens 2, Alarcon 2, Belmonte 2, Ududo 0, Alter 0.

Quarters: 24-8, 34-20, 55-31, 67-47.

– Rappler.com