Amari Bailey, UCLA Beat Colorado in Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals

After one of their star freshmen kept them in it early, the Bruins ran away from the Buffaloes late.

The Buffaloes gave the Bruins everything they had, but the blue and gold put any chance of an upset to bed down the stretch.

No. 1 seed UCLA men's basketball (28-4, 18-2 Pac-12) closed Thursday’s Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal matchup on a 20-8 run, knocking out No. 9 seed Colorado (17-16, 8-12 Pac-12) with a 80-69 victory. Guard Amari Bailey led the Bruins with a career-high 26 points, keeping UCLA in it when the Buffaloes dealt blow after blow.

Point guard Tyger Campbell and guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 18 and 16 points, respectively, but they did most of their damage late. Before UCLA ran away with the win, they had Bailey to thank for preventing Colorado from running away.

Like they had in their other games against the Buffaloes, the Bruins started slow on Thursday. UCLA shot 2-for-6 in the opening five minutes, and even guard David Singleton – one of the Pac-12's best shooters over the last five years – was missing 3s badly.

UCLA was able to dig itself out of an early 6-0 hole thanks to Bailey, who blew up and scored 11 points in a row to give the Bruins their first lead of the day.

Colorado just kept attacking UCLA's defense, though, continuing to drive to the rim and knock down deep 3-pointers. Following up on their 4-for-4 start to the day, the Buffaloes came through with a 5-for-5 stretch not long after.

Luckily for the Bruins, they also hit five shots in a row at that time, turning what was expected to be a defensive battle into an offensive showdown.

Jaquez and Campbell got some buckets to keep UCLA's lead alive, but the Bruins were without a field goal in the final three minutes of the half. Colorado, meanwhile, hit back-to-back triples and went into the break up 38-37.

Bailey, again, handed UCLA the lead 15 seconds into the second half, only for Colorado to surge back ahead with a few baskets. After Campbell tied it back up with a 3-pointer, Bailey continued his hot streak to keep the Bruins in it with some free throws and a pull-up jumper.

UCLA came through with a 9-0 run not long after, with all those points coming off of turnovers. Jaquez hit some free throws, Bona got a layup, Bailey got another and Singleton sank a 3-pointer.

Colorado continued to battle back, even briefly taking the lead after forward Tristan da Silva hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Jaquez answered with a triple, though, and Campbell got a fast break layup to double UCLA’s lead.

Bailey hit four free throws, and then a Jaquez and-1 virtually iced it. Colorado coach Tad Boyle got ejected with just over a minute left, leading to seven straight free throws for the Bruins.

By then, it was well out of reach for the Buffaloes, and the Bruins made it 11 wins in a row as a result.

UCLA was able to slow down Colorado's offense for most of the second half, limiting them to .939 points per possession post-halftime after giving up 1.267 in the first half. Center Adem Bona played a big part in that, blocking three shots to go along with his 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Between Bona and Bailey, the Bruins' freshmen were able to step up on both ends of the floor, making up for the loss of guard Jaylen Clark, who will miss at least the rest of the weekend with a lower leg injury.

UCLA will play the winner of Oregon-Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m.

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