UCLA men’s basketball tames Wildcats, soars to top of Pac-12 standings

This post was updated Jan. 25 at 11:52 p.m.

After trailing by as much as 16 in the second half, the Wildcats were on the verge of catching up.

Down 11 with just more than 10 minutes left in the game, Arizona guard Justin Kier had the ball in transition with no one between him and the basket, poised to trim the deficit to single digits. 

But as he went up for the layup, freshman guard/forward Peyton Watson recovered, rose up and swatted the ball into the front row of cheerleaders, sending the now-packed Pauley Pavilion into a frenzy and ending any chance of a comeback from the visiting team. 

“Peyton’s one of the most spirited guys on the team, and probably in the nation, to be honest,” said senior guard Jules Bernard. “All his energy, his blocks, his spirit in the game – it catapulted us in the second half.” 

With Watson’s block punctuating a standout defensive performance for the team, No. 7 UCLA men’s basketball (14-2, 6-1 Pac-12) defeated No. 3 Arizona (16-2, 6-1) by a score of 75-59 on Tuesday night. The win marks the Bruins’ second top-five victory of the season, as they were able to hold the Wildcats to their worst point total and shooting performance on the campaign.

Entering the game as the Pac-12’s best offensive team, Arizona entered the game never scoring fewer than 73 points in a game nor shooting worse than 40% from the field. While forcing 14 opponent turnovers, UCLA held the visiting team to 59 points and 30.7% shooting from the field.

“Nobody’s held them to 59 points or even close all season. They shoot 31% for the game, they shoot 51% (on the season),” Cronin said. “But effort matters and our effort was awesome.” 

Although Arizona’s offense was stifled for most of the game, it started out hot – but so did UCLA. 

A high-scoring start from both teams saw 30 combined points on 12-of-15 shooting through 4 1/2 minutes, led by seven points from redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting.

While the Bruins would finish the half shooting above their season averages, the Wildcats couldn’t sustain their initial outburst. After making six of its first seven shots – including a 4-of-4 mark from 3-point range – Arizona would need 27 more attempts to match those six makes and did not drain another triple for the rest of the half. 

For the entire game, the Wildcats shot 7-of-28 from beyond the arc, including an 0-of-9 mark from the conference’s most prolific 3-pointer shooter in guard Kerr Kriisa.

“If you let them get comfortable, they just destroy teams offensively,” Cronin said.  “We got a lot of rhythm. And some of it is sometimes you make shots and you don’t. That is somewhat of a factor.”

Holding its opponent to its second-lowest first-half point total of the season, UCLA entered the break with a 40-29 advantage thanks in part to 28 combined points from Campbell, Bernard and junior guard Johnny Juzang.

Juzang credited the fans – who had been missing from Pauley Pavilion for more than a month – for the team’s first-half energy.

“It’s so huge having The Den back,” Juzang said. “All the Bruin support and fans back is huge, so that was great.”

After UCLA extended its advantage to as much as 16 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Arizona began to build some momentum. The Wildcats made five of their next eight attempts during a stretch that included one 3-pointer and two three-point plays. 

However, eight straight points from junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. – who was held scoreless in the first half – buoyed the Bruin lead back up to 12 with less than 12 minutes to go in the game. 

Jaquez finished with 10 second-half points to go along with five rebounds, two steals and three blocked shots.

“I haven’t seen Jaime jump that high in three years. I mean, he had three blocked shots, are you kidding me?” Cronin said. “He blocked one, and I couldn’t believe it was him, but again, effort matters and coaching is overrated.”

Following Watson’s block with 10:08 to go, UCLA outscored Arizona 14-9 to finish the game with its largest conference win of the campaign. The victory gives the Bruins possession of first place in the Pac-12 because of a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Wildcats.

Despite the team’s newfound top billing in the conference, Jaquez said he’s not changing his mentality.

“We like being the underdogs,” Jaquez said. “That’s all I’ll say.”