Arizona beats UCLA for the second time in the Pac-12 Championship Game
Arizona Wildcats #11 Oumar Ballo (C) going strong to the basket against UCLA Bruins #5 Amari Bailey (G) at T-Mobile Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.
LAS VEGAS, NV — On Saturday night, when Courtney Ramey got the ball back with 16.7 seconds remaining, Ramey shook off a defender and coolly drilled a shot from the top of the key, and No.2 seeded Arizona held on to beat No.1 seeded UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 Championship.
For Ramey, "the next shot is going in" was a mantra he repeated to himself. "I was supposed to make a play for my job."
Tommy Lloyd, in his second year as the head coach for Arizona, has a perfect 9-0 record in Las Vegas, an 8-0 home court advantage, and a perfect 6-0 record in the Pac-12 Tournament.
I knew it was going to be a knockdown, dragout," Lloyd said. The UCLA program has my utmost admiration. Of course, they're dealing with a lot of injury issues at the moment, but I expected them to be tough and they have proven to be.
UCLA Bruins #5 Amari Bailey (G) is being defended by several Arizona Wildcats players at the T-Mobile Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.
After tying the game at 58, Ramey's three-pointer gave the Wildcats a 60-58 lead. Following a missed 3-pointer by teammate Azuolas Tubelis, Pelle Larsson put the ball in the hands of Ramey for the game-winning shot.
With 6.8 seconds remaining, UCLA guard Tyger Campbell was fouled; he made the first free throw but failed to convert the second. Arizona won after Tubelis made one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining and Dylan Andrews missed a three-pointer at the buzzer for UCLA.
A "wide-open shot to win the game," as UCLA head coach Mick Cronin put it. The reason for some of our bad fouls and defensive breakdowns had nothing to do with Tyger beating himself up over a missed free throw. In other words, those are things within our control. I'm willing to put my reputation and career on the line for Tyger.
To help the second-seeded Wildcats, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Tubelis scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Both Oumar Ballo and Larsson scored in double figures.
Arizona Wildcats #10 Tubelis Azuolas (F) and UCLA Bruins #24 Jamie Jaquez Jr. (G/F) fighting for a loose ball at the T-Mobile Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.
For a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats (28-6) look stronger than ever. UCLA (29-5) is still shooting for the West's top seed so that they can return to Las Vegas for the regional in two weeks.
Arizona's victory over UCLA in the Pac-12 Championship Game was their second straight.
Among the top-seeded Bruins, Amari Bailey scored 19 points. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 13 points to Campbell's 16 points, and he also grabbed 10 boards.
The Bruins already were missing guard Jaylen Clark (lower leg) and forward Adem Bona (shoulder), but things got worse when two of Bona's replacements in the post got in foul trouble.
With four second-half fouls apiece, Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba were both forced into action by Cronin. The Bruins were forced to play with a smaller lineup after Etienne and Nwuba fouled out within a 9:35 and 4:27 span, respectively.