As Kris Wilkes calmly delivered a thrilling, game-winning 3-pointer late Saturday night on one good leg, it might not have been only UCLA coach Steve Alford, he of the perpetual hot seat, who was relieved by the result. It was easy to wonder if a collective sigh of relief was echoing from each of the 11 other head coaches across the Pac-12 Conference.
Wilkes' winner — a 3-pointer at the buzzer against Notre Dame he swished despite battling leg cramps for the bulk of the game — gave the league at least one memorable nonconference victory against a marquee national foe.