Arizona Wildcats Offense Falls Flat Down Stretch As UCLA Bruins Win Close Game
The rocky start to 2024 for the Arizona Wildcats continues as they fell to the UCLA Bruins by a score of 57-54.
It was projected to be a close matchup, with the Wildcats favored by just 3.5 points at the FootPriint Center heading into the day.
Arizona entered top 10 in the country in terms of offense with 87.1 points per game. The stout Bruins defense lived up to the hype, keeping this game low-scoring.
The Wildcats defense deserves its flowers for stepping up to the task in this one. On the season, they rank No. 228 for opponent points per game.
Their efforts kept this game close when the Arizona offense failed to score for over five crucial minutes down the stretch.
With just over eight minutes to go, it looked like the Wildcats were going to be able to walk away with their first big win of the year.
That scoreless streak proved to be deadly as UCLA was then allowed to waltz back in and eventually take the lead.
Arizona actually had a chance to win it again down the stretch after forcing a huge miss down one with under 30 seconds, but failed to haul in the rebound.
That sent the Bruins to the free throw line.
While it was a nightmare day for them there, finishing the game 7-of-16, they hit two crucial shots to push their lead to three.
The Wildcats missed the ensuing heave to lose yet another high-profile game.
Looking to the bright side, the biggest performance of the day came from junior guard Jaden Bradley. He was all over the court with a team-leading 12 points. He also added seven rebounds, six assists and a whopping five steals.
Bradley was a bench unit player last year after transferring in from the Alabama Crimson Tide, but has taken over a starting job in the backcourt next to Caleb Love this season.
While the 21-year-old isn't the best shooter in the nation, he more than makes up for it with his effort on both sides of the ball.
Love, his counterpart, is still trying to find his footing this season.
He shot just 1-for-7 from deep in this one, continuing the worrying trend of his inefficiency from beyond the arc. The senior entered this game shooting just 29.5% from three this year and that will only go down after this game.
It was a horrid day overall from three for the Wildcats, shooting just 2-16 as a squad. It's not normally a strength of theirs, but this game was especially poor.
Arizona is now 4-5 on the season.
