UCLA Men's Basketball Falls to Arizona in Pac-12 Championship Game

The Bruins were up by double digits in the second half but could not slow down the Wildcats in the final minutes.

LAS VEGAS — The Bruins led for much of the way, but ultimately wound up falling short of claiming the conference title for the first time in eight years.

Instead, they had to watch the Wildcats cut down the nets and swarm the court in victory.

"Arizona was the tougher team down the stretch, that’s where the game was decided," said coach Mick Cronin. "Hopefully, we’ll watch film and learn a lot about what it takes to be a great team."

No. 2 seed UCLA men's basketball (25-7, 15-5 Pac-12) lost to No. 1 seed Arizona (31-3, 18-2) in the Pac-12 championship game on Saturday night, going down 84-76. The Bruins had four players score in double figures and held a double-digit lead early in the second half, but it turned out not to be enough to hold off the surging Wildcats.

UCLA has still not won a Pac-12 championship since 2014.

It seemed as if the Wildcats were going to get out to a big lead early on, but then guard Tyger Campbell dug them out of the hole by converting on an and-1. A 3-pointer by guard Jules Bernard off a baseline inbounds play closed the gap further, and the Bruins took their first lead of the night when guard Johnny Juzang hit a fadeaway jumper less than a minute later.

That marked the start of a six-minute stretch that boasted five lead changes and three separate ties. The final five minutes of the first half skewed more UCLA's way, though, as the blue and gold led up to the break.

Arizona got a much-needed energy boost in the final minutes, finally breaking their streak of only scoring on 3-pointers and free throws when forward Azuolas Tubelis threw one down over guard Jaylen Clark. Adding in a block by Oumar Ballo on the other end, the thousands of Wildcat fans in attendance were starting to get rowdy.

But immediately after, Juzang caught a long inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to quite the opposing crowd and bring Bruin fans to their feet. Juzang returned to his bench with a shimmy and a snarl, and UCLA returned to the locker room up 40-35.

Both sides opened the second half hot, but it was once again the Bruins who used the stretch to slowly create space.

Campbell hit a 3, then Jaquez got an and-1, sparking what turned out to be a 10-2 run. Juzang got open in the corner and drilled a triple of his own to put UCLA up by 12. 

Arizona responded with a 15-2 run kicked off off by a pair of 3-pointers from guards Dalen Terry and Bennedict Mathurin and capped by an and-1 from center Christian Koloko. Despite not holding a lead for over 15 minutes, the Wildcats had come storming back to go up 56-55 with 12 to play.

"From that point on, they just played harder," Cronin said. "They were the more physical team, they played much harder. Our defense broke down, we gave up back doors."

Even when Bernard got a 3 to go to put the Bruins back on top, Mathurin answered with a 3 of his own and Koloko slammed one home to put them up again and set off the Arizona-heavy crowd.

UCLA was shooting 2-of-15 since going up by a dozen a few minutes into the second half, all while Arizona opened the period 10-of-15.

Bernard injected the Bruins' offense with some life, hitting some free throws and a fast break layup, but got pulled off the floor by Cronin after missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

The Wildcats responded by getting a 3 out of Terry, who then led a fast break for a big dunk moments later. Even as UCLA started getting its shots to fall heading into the final five minutes, Arizona kept answering to preserve its lead.

"I think it may have been a snowball effect," Bernard said. "They made their cuts hard, they ran their offense hard, I just feel like we may have been a little lackluster down the stretch and it showed. They got easy buckets at the rim and when you’re trying to make a run, it’s demoralizing."

Koloko went up an over the Bruins defense yet again for a dunk with two minutes remaining, and he picked up several blocks on the other end to help close things out.

Forward Cody Riley's putback bucket and drawn charge inside of a minute provided an opening for UCLA, but one that ultimately went unfulfilled. 

"Last year, we were the tougher team in March for a lot of games and that's why we went where we went," Cronin said. "If we learn that lesson, then today will be worth it, but they taught us a lesson."

Bernard led the way with 19 points, Jaquez put up 18 and 10 and Juzang and Campbell combined for 30.

Outside of that top four, though, the Bruins got just nine points from the rest of their team. On the other end, the defense allowed 40 points in the paint and Campbell finished with a team-worst -18 plus-minus thanks to all of the buckets given up in bunches.

UCLA will now await the NCAA tournament selection show on Sunday to see where their postseason journey will take them next.

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