Shorthanded UCLA Men’s Basketball Loses Pac-12 Title Game to Arizona

Courtney Ramey’s 3-pointer with 18 seconds left sank the Bruins to close out the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

Down two starters and both of their remaining bigs, the Bruins were unable to hold on in the final moments.

No. 1 seed UCLA men’s basketball (29-5, 18-2 Pac-12) lost the Pac-12 tournament final to No. 2 Arizona (28-6, 14-6) for the second year in a row, falling 61-59 on Saturday night. The Bruins, despite being without big man Adem Bona and guard Jaylen Clark, were leading heading into the final minute.

The Wildcats missed a potential go-ahead shot with 26 seconds left, but with Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne both fouled out of the game, coach Mick Cronin didn’t have any big men left at his disposal.

As a result, Arizona tipped around the offensive rebound and eventually got it to guard Courtney Ramey, who was 0-for-4 from deep on the night.

Ramey hit guard Will McClendon with a step back, and he drained the 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats the lead.

UCLA had several chances to still pull out the win, but point guard Tyger Campbell missed a potential game-tying free throw and point guard Dylan Andrews missed what would have been a game-winning triple at the buzzer.

It was the Bruins’ first loss since Jan. 26, snapping their 12-game winning streak and preventing them from winning their first Pac-12 tournament since 2014.

UCLA will also likely miss out on a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament following the defeat at the hands of their biggest conference rival, depending on other results across the country.

To have led for all but 1:18 of the second half and limit one of the nation’s top offenses to 61 points without their two top defenders could help soften the blow of the loss, but the Bruins were still just a missed shot away from stealing the win.

From the opening tip, UCLA controlled the tempo, and it helped them stay in it longer than expected.

Arizona was unable to get a hot to fall until the 14:56 mark, missing their first six shots of the night. UCLA was unable to take advantage, though, missing seven shots in a row after guard Amari Bailey’s fancy layup early on.

After the first media timeout, at which point the game was tied 2-2, both teams started to light it up.

The Bruins hit five shots in a row, while the Wildcats went 5-for-6 in that same stretch. There were eight lead changes in that time, with Andrews nailing two big 3-pointers and Campbell getting an and-1.

Bailey nearly blew the roof of the building with an immediate dunk of the year candidate where he sailed over guard Pelle Larsson, but the referee on the other side of the court called an offensive foul. Larsson came right back down and posterized Nwuba to complete the four-point swing, and Arizona built its lead to five not long after.

A 9-2 run capped off by a brief Jaime Jaquez Jr. takeover got UCLA back into it, and a baseline layup by Bailey in the final minute put the Bruins up 34-33 at the half.

Jaquez stayed hot to open up the second, scoring six of UCLA’s first nine points coming out of the locker room.

Triples by Campbell and Bailey put the Bruins on top by nine, although the Wildcats got back into it quickly with a 3-pointer by guard Kerr Kriisa and two drawn fouls by center Oumar Ballo.

With 12:03 left in the game, Nwuba and Etienne had four fouls each. With 9:35 remaining, Etienne fouled out while trying to go around a screen.

Arizona spun that into a 13-2 run that put them back on top, but a slashing layup from Bailey and free throws from Campbell stopped the bleeding. After Bailey hung in the air for another layup that gave the Bruins a four-point lead again, the Wildcats fought their way back into it and forced an extremely tight finish.

Kriisa drilled a straightaway 3-pointer that gave Arizona the lead, and then a floater by Campbell helped UCLA snatch it right back.

Ballo tied the game at 56-56 after Nwuba fouled out, but the Wildcats were unable to get anything going down low on their next few possessions. The Bruins went back ahead on another pull-up jumper from Bailey that forced Arizona’s second-to-last timeout with 2:53 left on the clock.

Neither team scored for over two minutes, setting up the chaotic end of the contest that went the Wildcats’ way.

Bailey led his team with 19 points, while Campbell dropped 16 and Jaquez put up 13.

UCLA will now wait until the NCAA tournament selection show on Sunday to see where their season will continue, and they will be making it as an at-large rather an automatic qualifier.

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