UCLA’s surprise run to the Sweet 16 was no surprise to one former Indiana standout.

Jasper native and former IU point guard Michael Lewis could see it evolving from the bench as one of UCLA’s assistant coaches. UCLA had lost four straight before the NCAA Tournament, with all four losses coming by nine points or less. The last two of those losses came by one point to USC and in overtime to Oregon State in the Pac-12 tournament.

“We lost four games to teams that are in the Round of 32, three of them that were in the Sweet 16, so it wasn’t like we were playing bad teams,” Lewis said. “We felt like we were playing well, just a few things that we needed to clean up to be able to finish some games, and we’re two made free throws from probably being a 7 through 10 seed instead of an 11. So we knew what we had.”

As one of four double-digit seeds left in the Sweet 16, 11-seed UCLA (20-9) will face 2-seed Alabama (26-6) at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sunday (4:15 p.m., TBS), a gym where Lewis coached as an assistant at Butler from 2011-16. The ties for Lewis to the Hoosier State run deep. After a stellar high school career in Jasper, Lewis played under Bob Knight at IU from 1997-2000, leaving as the school’s all-time leader in assists at 545. He still ranks second all-time in that category for the Hoosiers, behind Yogi Ferrell (633 from 2012-15).

Lewis began his coaching career in 2004 at Stephen. F. Austin, then moved on to Eastern Illinois (2005-11), Butler (2011-15) and Nebraska (2016-19) before landing at UCLA in the summer of 2019.

Lewis was drawn to UCLA for its tradition and the opportunity to work with head coach Mick Cronin. As a former point guard, Lewis is heavily involved in offensive game plans but also takes on numerous roles in recruiting, scouting and player development.

“It’s been a great learning experience for me as a young coach to just — to be on the front end of UCLA basketball,” Lewis said. “Feel very fortunate that I work in a place that has 11 national championship banners hanging from the rafters and work under Mick and to be a part of what we’re trying to accomplish there in getting back UCLA to where it’s among the national powers each year.”

Cronin, Lewis said, has been the driving force behind UCLA’s turnaround.

“He is just very relentless from the first day he got on campus in establishing what UCLA basketball is going to be all about,” Lewis said. “Never compromised, never took any short cuts and just demanded from our guys that this is how we’re going to play because this is how we’re going to win.”

UCLA showed that grit in its First Four matchup, rallying from down 11 points to beat Michigan State in overtime. Then, UCLA knocked off BYU 73-62 on Saturday and Abilene Christian 67-47 on Monday to move on to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2017.

“It’s good to be around a group of guys who are chasing a dream and having an experience like this, going to the Sweet 16,” Lewis said. “It’s special to be a part of.”

UCLA is one of four Pac-12 teams to reach the Sweet 16, the most of any conference. The conference wasn’t highly regarded heading into the tournament. It was ranked sixth in the NET behind the four other power conferences and the Big East. But Lewis expected the Pac-12 to have success during the tournament’s first week.

“We felt like our league was pretty strong,” Lewis said. “The Pac-12 has always taken a hit, not because it hasn’t been good but because nobody — the average fan is not going to stay up until 11, 11:30 at night to watch a basketball game. I’ve lived my whole life in the Midwest until the last two years. I wasn’t staying up that late to watch college basketball, so with the time change, and all that it’s just a little bit more difficult for anybody east of the Rocky Mountains to watch Pac-12 basketball.”

Lewis said another factor that played into the non-conference performance of Pac-12 teams was COVID-19, which hit California and other western states hard and resulted in more strict regulations. Lewis said UCLA went from March through September last year without coaches seeing any players in person.

“Local gyms were shut down,” Lewis said. “We had players who were trying to sneak in back doors at their high school and things just to get in and get some shots up. We weren’t able to build our guys’ bodies up in a weight room, so it took us a little bit longer this year, I think, for our league to get into a rhythm, with each one of our respective teams, because we’ve gone so long without seeing our guys in person.”

Returning home to coach in the NCAA Tournament has made UCLA’s run that much more special for Lewis. All coaches, players and staff are confined to the NCAA Tournament bubble in downtown Indianapolis, but Lewis said his ticket list “has been pretty full,” and he’s been able to spot family and friends in the stands, cheering UCLA on.

“Indianapolis has never looked better through a hotel room than it has this past 10 days,” Lewis said. “It’s been good, a lot of texts, a lot of phone calls, different things, reconnecting with people but very unfortunate that you can’t get out and be with people in person. But this has been a special experience and to be able to have success back here, in this state, for me personally has been a lot of fun.”