UCLA caps championship season with 82-73 win over Arizona
UCLA found itself in an early 13-2 hole to open Saturday’s regular-season finale against Arizona.
That was, for all intents and purposes, the only time Arizona threatened the Pac-12 champion Bruins on their home court. UCLA used a huge run midway through the first half to flip the game on its head, then controlled things the rest of the way for an 82-73 win.
In terms of impact on the league tournament next week, Saturday’s result was largely academic. UCLA has the No. 1 seed, Arizona the No. 2 seed. That wasn’t going to change.
But Arizona won the first meeting in Tucson. The Wildcats beat the Bruins in the Pac-12 Tournament championship last season. These two are expected to meet again for this year’s tournament title.
UCLA was out to make a point.
Point made.
The Bruins (27-4, 18-2 Pac-12) won 10 straight to close out the regular season. Saturday’s victory moved the home win streak to 25 consecutive games. The 18 conference wins matched Arizona’s record 18 league wins last year.
And the Bruins were led by their star in what could be his final game at Pauley Pavilion.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished three assists, and recorded two steals in 37 minutes before getting a curtain call and an ovation from the home crowd.
It was a meeting of the two contenders for Pac-12 Player of the Year — UCLA’s Jaquez and Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis. Tubelis finished with 24 points and 10 boards before fouling out.
Jaquez got the better of his Wildcat counterpart where it mattered, though; he scored the win before running off into the student section and getting mobbed in the postgame celebration.
It was Jaquez’s moment, though he wasn’t alone. Fellow seniors Tyger Campbell and David Singleton pulled their weight. Campbell scored 21 points. Singleton added 17 with five made 3s.
That trio scored 29 of UCLA’s 40 first-half points to help give the Bruins a three-point lead after a half that saw the Bruins take their time to settle in.
A bucket from Arizona’s Courtney Ramey gave Arizona a 23-14 lead with 9:23 to play in the opening frame. Singleton knocked in a triple not 30 seconds later to kickstart a 15-0 run for the Bruins.
Jaylen Clark scored seven of his 11 points in the run. (Clark played just two minutes in the second half before exiting, briefly hitting the locker room, and then re-emerging on crutches.)
A pair of free throws from Campbell and then a bookend triple from Singleton capped the run and turned what was a nine-point deficit into a six-point lead in just over four minutes.
UCLA opened the second half with an 8-0 run.
Arizona fought back to get the deficit to six on a Pelle Larsson triple with 10:44 to play.
And then UCLA promptly punched back with another 8-0 run to go back up 14. Arizona never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
The Bruins controlled things. Though Tubelis got his, coach Mick Cronin’s squad was able to keep the UA at arm’s length for most of the second half. And that was even while shooting just 6-of-22 from 3. Singleton was the only Bruin who had it cooking beyond the arc.
Instead, UCLA was able to effectively limit Arizona’s Oumar Ballo and Courtney Ramey. Ballo had six points and five boards. He only took four shots and just five free throw attempts. Ramey finished with four points on 2-of-11 shooting with six turnovers.
Arizona outshot UCLA for the game, 47% to 42%, but between Ramey’s struggles and the two-point performance from Cedric Henderson Jr., guard play was lacking for the Wildcats. The Bruins won that facet of the game.
Wildcat coach Tommy Lloyd will hope for a Round 3, but Arizona will need to regain its footing a bit over the next few days. The Wildcats will enter the postseason having gone just 3-3 in its last six.
Arizona (25-6, 14-6 Pac-12) handled USC and Colorado, and dominated Utah, but it was also thoroughly outplayed by Stanford and let Arizona State stun it at home. The Wildcats haven’t consistently fired on all cylinders in some time.
Perhaps an extended break before tournament play starts can help there.
The Pac-12 Tournament awaits. Both UCLA and Arizona will be off until Thursday.