OAKLAND — UCLA could’ve panicked. It would’ve been easy.

Trailing 71-62 with 3:27 to play, many teams might have packed it in. Good season, good try, see you next year.

But with 3:27 to play Thursday, the second-seeded Bruins (30-6) decided they weren’t ready to be finished, scoring the final 11 points to escape with a 73-71 victory over third-seeded Gonzaga (29-4) in the Sweet 16 and earn a date with top-seeded Memphis in the Elite Eight.

“No matter what the score is, there’s always a chance,” sophomore point guard Jordan Farmar said. “Some crazy things can happen, and some crazy things happened today.”

No kidding.

For 35 minutes, it looked like a game that UCLA had no business winning. Gonzaga was the more aggressive team, the more composed team, the better team.

But in the end, UCLA was the winning team. All they needed was a mind-numbing, whirlwind 3:27 to do it.

“If you had to bet who would win the game, I don’t think one person would’ve bet that UCLA pulls this one out,” senior center Ryan Hollins said. “But our guys never give up to the very end. It was a crazy win.”

Nothing was crazier than the final 16 seconds.

After Hollins hit two free throws to bring the Bruins within one point at 71-70, UCLA applied the pressure.

Gonzaga’s All-American Adam Morrison successfully passed out of a UCLA double-team, but Bulldog forward J.P. Batista wasn’t so lucky.

Senior guard Cedric Bozeman forced the steal out of a trap on the right sideline, and Farmar picked up the ball and heaved a pass to freshman forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who was waiting under the basket.

Mbah a Moute caught the pass, steadied himself, and made the layup to give UCLA its first lead of the game.

“I never thought we were going to lose the game,” Mbah a Moute said. “We just had to keep digging and grinding.”

After making the go-ahead layup, Mbah a Moute wasn’t done. He hustled down the court and caught Gonzaga guard Derek Raivio from behind, forcing the steal that essentially iced the victory.

Sophomore guard Arron Afflalo made one of two free throws, Batista missed a shot at the buzzer, and Bruin euphoria overtook the Oakland Arena.

“That was a great finish for us,” said UCLA coach Ben Howland, who advances past the Sweet 16 for the first time in his coaching career. “It’s really just a testament to the character, the toughness, the heart of our players to have the never-quit attitude. I’m really, really proud of them.”

All season, UCLA has spoken about overcoming adversity, but that was nothing compared to the adversity the Bruins faced Thursday.

They shot 25.9 percent from the field in the first half. They turned the ball over seven times. Even their one constant, defense, was incredibly lacking in the game’s first 20 minutes as Gonzaga scored 42 points on 57.7 percent shooting.

But the Bruins, who hold the longest winning streak in the nation at 10 games, battled through it all.

Gonzaga was only 9-for-25 from the field in the second half, and the Bulldogs didn’t score a field goal for the game’s final five minutes.

“It just happened in a blur,” said Morrison, who finished with 24 points for Gonzaga. “That’s the way the game works. If you don’t execute down the stretch, you pay for it.”

UCLA could have given up. They had no timeouts. Afflalo and Mbah a Moute both had four fouls. Morrison is arguably the best player in the nation.

Doubt could have crept in. But it didn’t.

“Obviously it was desperation time, down nine with three minutes to go,” Afflalo said. “You’ve got to bring it all out.”

And as it’s been all season, there wasn’t just one hero. Bozeman forced the steal. Farmar made the pass. Mbah a Moute made the basket.

“Everybody doubted us from day one. Nobody picked us to win the Pac-10. Nobody thought we would win the Pac-10 Tournament, let alone be in the Elite Eight,” Farmar said.

“Toward the end of the year when we started getting momentum people starting coming along, but we know that really everybody doubted us, and only the guys in this room really believed.”

And thanks to 3:27 of brilliance, the dream is still alive.

UCLA will face top-seeded Memphis on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Oakland. The game will be shown on CBS.