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Arizona Wildcats vs UCLA Bruins Basketball Recap

Arizona 85, UCLA 74

In late January, it might be early to talk about the NCAA bubble for most teams, but on an urgent weeknight in the Southwest, bubbles were floating in the air. Arizona decided to get on the right side of that bubble, while UCLA slid downward in the sport’s most important pecking order of all.

The Arizona Wildcats beat the UCLA Bruins in Pac-10 conference play from the McKale Center in Tucson Arizona on Thursday night. The Wildcats, now 6-2 in conference play, sit alone in second place in the Pac-10, a full one game ahead of the Bruin squad they just dusted off in the desert. Arizona is now 12-0 on the season at home.

The Wildcats took the lead with 11 minutes left in the first half and never looked back. On the back of Derrick Williams’s strong 22-point night, the Wildcats kept the pressure on the Bruins all evening long. The night was capped by Williams’ acrobatic alley-oop slam dunk in the second half, which brought the McKale crowd to its feet. Head coach Sean Miller’s Wildcats shot 52 percent from the field and led by as many as 18 points in the second half.

UCLA struggled to find its shooting stroke for much of the night. The Bruins shot just 41 percent from the field, including 2-of-15 behind the arc. That simply isn’t a recipe for road success, especially against a nationally ranked opponent. Reeves Nelson and Malcolm Lee were the only starters on head coach Ben Howland’s club to shoot well on the evening. Nelson scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds on a blistering 10-of-12 from the field. Lee added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

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The math for UCLA’s other three starters was brutal: Center Anthony Stover didn’t attempt a single shot in 11 minutes of floor time, while the two other members of the Bruins’ starting five, guard Lazeric Jones and forward Tyler Honeycutt, combined to go 1-of-15 from the field. UCLA did get a lift from reserves Jerime Anderson (11 points on 4-of-8 shooting) and Josh Smith (13 points), but since five other Bruins combined to score 10 points, it’s fair to say that UCLA didn’t field a complete team on Thursday. Only some players, not all, decided to show up for what was the most significant Pac-10 game of the year not involving the conference-leading Washington Huskies.

UCLA does own a huge win over BYU that is only growing in significance due to the Cougars’ upward progression in the rankings, but the Bruins also lost at home to Montana and can’t point to other quality wins outside their conference. UCLA stands at 13-7 after this loss; many more defeats will make it virtually impossible for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to call the Bruins’ name when the brackets are announced for the Big Dance. Howland has to get his team to play together if it wants to be a part of March Madness. Arizona just made a statement that UCLA must respond to in the weeks ahead.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer