LAS VEGAS – The classic home white and bold powder blue font for UCLA looked resplendent clashing with the navy and red trim of Arizona for a Pac-12 final that seemed a fitting conclusion for the elite level each side played at this season.
The contest even lived up to the hefty heavyweight billing it had coming in, featuring a remarkable 17 lead changes before the second-seeded Wildcats edged the Bruins 61-59 in the dying embers to capture the conference tournament for the second consecutive year.
That’s not to say it was the crispest of games to start off.
Both sides began the game a combined 2-of-16 from the field in the first six minutes and committed five turnovers as well. But like a deck being swapped from one of the many blackjack tables around the Strip, the luck changed and both teams began hitting haymakers.
UCLA even keeping it close spoke to the grit and competitiveness of a veteran laden squad that was without two key starters. Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark is reportedly out for the year after a lower leg injury suffered in the team’s regular-season finale win over Arizona a week ago while conference Freshman of the Year Adem Bona was confined to street clothes after injuring his left shoulder in the semifinal against Oregon on Friday.
“We always play with toughness,” head coach Mick Cronin said. “We made too many defensive mistakes and gave up too many rebounds in the second half. But that’s how we do things. We compete, it’s five-on-five and we don’t accept that somebody was out so you’re supposed to lose.”
Bona’s primary replacement, redshirt senior Kenneth Nwuba – dealing with nagging injuries himself – notched two offensive rebounds and took a charge early on to set the tone down low. Freshman Mac Etienne chipped in with seven rebounds in 16 minutes as both fouled out with over four minutes to go.
Their defense when on the court was otherwise particularly appreciated, holding Wildcats big man Oumar Ballo to just two points at halftime (he finished with 13) and rendering him more of a non-factor than expected. It didn’t help that the Gonzaga transfer also was dealing with injuries to both of his heavily taped hands.
Guard Kerr Kriisa did what he could with a banged-up shoulder as well but wasn’t quite as effective as he was in the early January win over UCLA back in Tucson. The junior from Estonia knocked down a key 3 down the stretch but finished with just six points and zero assists before fouling out with 1:49 to go.
Fellow guard Courtney Ramey hit just one shot all night but saved the best for last, knocking down a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to retake the lead for good and allow him to backpedal down the court motioning that he had ice in his veins. Pelle Larsson, who gave the ‘Cats their first lead in the second half with nine to play on an off-center three also delighted the thousands of Arizona fans who turned the building into McKale North.
First-team all-conference selection Azuolas Tubelis was more than capable of shouldering the scoring load for Arizona as he had done most of the season to lead the Pac-12 in points. He finished the night with 19 to go along with 14 rebounds and consistently found success in the mid-range.
Opposite number Jaime Jaquez Jr., who was named player of the year out West over Tubelis, labored on both ends and appeared crushed after the final buzzer that he couldn’t deliver UCLA their first conference tourney crown since 2014. He did end up with a double-double but missed his final seven shots and had several good looks rim out amid a nearly three-minute scoring drought for the team to end the game.
“I thought I had a lot of great looks, but I just missed,” Jaquez said.
Fellow senior Tyger Campbell, who hadn’t missed more than two free throws in a game since mid-January, also had an opportunity to at least send the game into overtime after drawing a late foul call while in the bonus. He calmly rattled in the first but couldn’t connect on the second to tie the game in the final six seconds, spoiling what had been an otherwise stellar outing for the point guard who finished with 16 points on the night.
Freshman Amari Bailey also had another coming out party in Vegas, ending with a game-high 19 and throwing down a vicious dunk down the middle of the lane that was tragically taken away by a controversial offensive foul call.
The Bruins now await their fate with the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday but could see the loss impacting their chances to land the No. 1 seed in the West and remain in the Pacific time zone all the way until the Final Four, including a regional in two weeks right back at T-Mobile Arena.
At worst Cronin’s side will find themselves on the 2-line that they will likely share with an Arizona squad that has been at the forefront of the fight for the conference for the past several years.
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