No. 8 Arizona Basketball starts fast, but fades against No. 4 UCLA

LOS ANGELES, CA – Looking for the upset against No. 4 UCLA, No. 8 Arizona Basketball (25-6, 14-6) started fast but couldn’t hold on, falling 82-73.  

Despite getting the big win against USC on Thursday night, Saturday evening did not go in favor of No. 8 Arizona Basketball.

Getting off to a hot start as the Wildcats led 13-2 after the first five-plus minutes of play, unfortunately, Arizona faded as the Wildcats’ offense grew stagnant, and the defense couldn’t generate enough stops.

Despite shooting a combined 47.4 percent from the field, including 8-20 (40.0 percent) from three,  it wasn’t enough as Arizona fell to UCLA on Senior night in Pauley Pavilion.

Arizona was led by Azuolas Tubelis who scored a game-high 24 points, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much beyond that despite Kerr Krissa adding with 13 points, and Pelle Larsson with 10 as the Wildcats fell, 82-73.

Leading by as many as 11, No. 8 Arizona Basketball could not maintain its momentum, as No. 4 got hot and cruised the nine-point win.

Bringing the energy from the tip, Arizona appeared up to the challenge as they opened the game by outscoring host UCLA 13-2 in the first five-plus minutes of play.

Arizona would continue to battle as it hit shots and expanded its lead to 21-12, but unfortunately, that would be one of the few positives in the game for this one.

UCLA responded with a 12-2 to take the lead at 24-23, and at that point the Bruins never looked back, ending the half by outscoring Arizona 16-14 to lead 40-37.

Hoping to find its first-half rhythm again, regrettably, Arizona would come out sluggish in the second half, allowing UCLA to start the half on an 8-0 run to lead 48-37.

Finally, Arizona would begin to respond, answering with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 48-42, but unfortunately, that would be the closest Arizona would seemingly get in this one.

UCLA would continue to control the second half as the fouls piled up for Arizona and the Bruins eventually came away with the 82-73 win.

With the loss, the Wildcats finish the regular season 25-6 (14-6) on the season and will resume basketball action next week in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Arizona will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will play the winner of No. 7 Utah and No. 10 Stanford on Thursday. Tip-off for that game has yet to be determined!

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