Men’s basketball takes lead in last couple of seconds to win Arizona State matchup
Freshman guard Jaylen Clark grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with 1.4 seconds left, where he proceeded to hit a game-winning free throw to extend UCLA men’s basketball’s undefeated record at Pauley Pavilion this season. (Alex Driscoll/Daily Bruin staff)
Men’s basketball
| Arizona State | 79 |
| UCLA | 80 |
By Sam Connon
Feb. 20, 2021 10:21 p.m.
Jaylen Clark hadn’t made a free throw in almost a month.
The freshman guard had attempted eight all season before Saturday night, but he was the one who went to the line with the game tied and 1.4 seconds left on the clock.
After clanking the first off the front rim, Clark swished the second and gave the Bruins their first lead of the night.
“He’s a very good free throw shooter,” coach Mick Cronin said. “I wasn’t that nervous about him.”
UCLA men’s basketball (16-5, 12-3 Pac-12) held on to that one-point lead to beat Arizona State (7-11, 4-8) 80-79, completing a 10-point second-half comeback and leaping back into a tie for first place in the conference. The Bruins broke the 80-point mark for the first time since mid-January, but the offense wasn’t doing enough to keep pace with the Sun Devils for the vast majority of the game.
UCLA managed to tighten things up down the stretch, however, not allowing a single point in the final 2:40.
Getting stops was only half the battle though, as the Bruins sank just one of their final four shots and didn’t hit a field goal in the final minute. Instead, UCLA needed to get things done at the charity stripe, where they scored 11 of their final 16 points.
It started with an and-1 by freshman center Mac Etienne that closed the gap to five, and three free throws by sophomore guard Johnny Juzang made it a four-point game a few possessions later. Redshirt sophomore guard Tyger Campbell drilled two free throws with 39 seconds left on the clock, and he actually had two chances to win the game in the final minute – a missed 3-pointer with 54 seconds left and a floater off the front rim with two seconds left.
Clark hauled in the offensive rebound on Campbell’s missed floater, drawing a foul under the hoop that sent him to the line for the eventual game-winning free throw.
The Bruins’ bench swarmed Clark after the final buzzer, a far cry from the celebration in a packed Pauley Pavilion when sophomore guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit his viral game-winning 3-pointer against the Sun Devils last season.
“We wanted to run around him and do what we could do because he can’t experience what we experienced last year with (Jaquez)’s game-winner,” Campbell said. “We tried to celebrate it for him, let him know he’s doing good.”
The Bruins entered Saturday shooting 71% from the free throw line during Pac-12 play, which ranked 10th in the conference. Two games ago, UCLA shot 6-of-18 against Washington, but it ended 19-of-23 Saturday against Arizona State.
“I still think, right now, this is the best free throw shooting team I’ve had in 18 years,” Cronin said. “The key was getting to the foul line, getting some stops and having possessions where we did not waste possessions.”
Free throw shooting helped dig the Bruins out of their hole, but they only got behind in the first place because of the Sun Devils’ high-octane backcourt.
Arizona State guards Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge Jr. scored their team’s first 12 points to go up 12-2 early, and they continued to pour on the points for the rest of the night.
The duo combined for 43 points and scored or assisted on 52 of the Sun Devils’ first 56 points.
“Verge is impossible to guard,” Cronin said. “And it’s a very bad matchup for us because our footspeed is very limited.”
The Bruins’ starting backcourt – Campbell and junior guard Jules Bernard – scored 21 points. Most of their scoring came from the outside off 3-pointers by Juzang and junior guard David Singleton or under the hoop by Etienne and redshirt junior forward Cody Riley.
The two big men played combined for 26 points and 10 rebounds, and neither missed a field goal or free throw all game long.
“It was great seeing (Etienne) step up like that,” Riley said. “I feel like we just help each other’s confidence, just working out together, seeing the ball go in, seeing different moves, and it was just a big night for him.”
With the win, UCLA has won three in a row and is now tied atop the Pac-12 with crosstown rival USC. The Bruins also extended their winning streak to 18 games in Pauley Pavilion, where they’ll face the Trojans in two weeks.
