No. 5 UCLA beats No. 4 Arizona in Pac-12 showdown

These were hustle plays, UCLA beating out Arizona’s big men to secure a board and work 30 more seconds off of the clock.

No. 17 SMU 69, CT 61: Shake Milton had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead SMU at Hartford, Conn.

If they get a little help – perhaps two of the current top seeds lose prior to their conference championship game – and the Bruins end up Pac-12 champs, the committee will have to consider them for a No. 1 seed. A less talked about reason for UCLA’s success is Aaron Holiday. “We need to stay locked into our game plan”. “We know February sets up March”. “Really disappointing on Senior Day to not get the win but big-picture wise going into March I do think we’re kind of on an upswing and playing our best basketball”.

Trier, a sophomore, scored a career-high 28 points, but he didn’t have enough help against UCLA’s 3-2 zone. You learn a lot about the families of the players you coach and you learn a lot about the coaching staff because, hey, no one wanted to win more than us.

The Wildcats: With only one loss in conference play, Arizona holds a slim lead over No. 6 OR (25-4, 14-2) in the Pac-12 standings with two games remaining and can claim the regular-season title by winning out.

Arizona gave up – or UCLA aggressively got – 20 second-chance points, 14 in the second half. At half, the Sun Devils held a 32-27 lead. Earlier this season against UCLA, the freshman scored 18 points with seven rebounds. Just look at this Arizona game and the second half of their win over Oregon. In such a scenario they will not have to worry about a one-seed (most likely Gonzaga if they rank ahead of Arizona) until the Elite Eight.

Anigbogu’s dunk with 6:16 to go in the first half gave UCLA a 29-21 lead, and Arizona State was forced to rely on perimeter shots. The Bruins connected on three consecutive 3-point shots during the run, and the Wildcats found themselves staring at a 67-57 deficit with 6:47 to go. Over the next four minutes, ASU went on a 7-0 run and had a 52-50 lead with 1:46 left. “We weren’t able to get it done tonight”.

Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley stares at a referee after a foul call during the second half o …

If Oregon hangs on to No. 1 and the other top Pac-12 Tournament seedings hold up, that means Arizona would face UCLA in a No. 2-vs. -No.

Then came Saturday when UA looked like a deer in headlights at times when UCLA went to its zone. Get his NCAA College Basketball Free Pick: Ucla Bruins at Arizona Wildcats.

On Saturday they will play for the share of the Pac-12 title “and that’s very hard to do”, he said, “especially with how good UCLA and OR are”. They started the scoring and kept the Bruins off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the game. The Wildcats have won 21 in a row at McKale Center dating back to last season. He scored 14 points. UCLA shot considerably better from the charity-stripe late in the game.

Monte Morris had 17 points with seven assists for the Cyclones (19-9), who have their longest winning streak in league play since a seven-game stretch in 2005. There are teams out there that aren’t close to us offensively but no one wants talk about their offense. He returned to action just before halftime and ended up with 11 rebounds and five assists.

“The last play was one of hundreds of plays in the game”, Miller said. “It’s Lonzo Ball. He’ll be there full force on Saturday, I’m nearly positive”. With two games remaining, Arizona enters the weekend with a one-game lead over No. 7 OR for the top spot in the Pac-12 standings and 2 1/2 games up on third-place UCLA, which has three games left.