Arizona hands UCLA fifth straight loss dismantling the Bruins 88-65

UCLA Bruins #10 Lazar Stefanovic (G) driving pass a Arizona Wildcats defender. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

 WESTWOOD, CA – The UCLA Bruins (14-16) brought pepper spray to a gunfight as the Arizona Wildcats (24-6) firepower overwhelmed the Bruins 88-65 at Pauley Pavilion. The loss was the fifth straight for the young Bruins squad as they near the end of a rollercoaster season. The Bruins had won five of their previous six games before embarking on their current five-game losing streak.

"They're just better than us," exclaimed Bruins coach Mick Cronin. "They're better than us on the backboard. They're better than us on offense. They're better than us on defense."

Lazar Stefanovic led the Bruins in scoring with 20 points, including five three-pointers, despite being held scoreless in the first half. Arizona freshman KJ Lewis led the Wildcats in scoring, with 18 points off the bench in only 23 minutes.

"When KJ Lewis shoots the ball like that, nobody's going to beat them," said Cronin. "They have a freshman that's a super winner in Lewis."

UCLA managed to go toe-to-toe with the fifth-ranked Wildcats for the first ten minutes of the game, with Adem Bona scoring in the paint to tie the game 15-15 with 10:15 left in the first half. After that, it was all Arizona as they outscored UCLA by 29-12 over the final ten minutes.

"Ref, you suck," chants erupted from the displeased Pauley Pavilion crowd with four minutes remaining in the first half as Arizona continued its parade to the free throw line. Arizona had shot 11 free throws to UCLA's three at that point.

The Wildcats took a 44-27 lead into halftime behind a combination of strong ball movement and fast break points. Arizona led UCLA seven assists to one and outscored the Bruins in transition nine-to-zero in the first half.

Arizona Wildcats #5 KJ Lewis (G) pulling up and shooting a three-pointer in front of the UCLA Bruins’ bench. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

In the second half, it was more of the same as Arizona's stifling defense and points off of Bruin turnovers kept UCLA from mounting any type of comeback.

The highlight of the game came off a Bruin turnover followed by Lewis throwing a 50-foot outlet pass to Oumar Ballo. The seven-foot 260-pound center caught the ball in stride, ferociously dunking over two Bruin defenders, shedding Berke Buyuktuncel, who crashed into the stanchion.

The crowd gasped at the ferocity of the dunk as Buyuktuncel was slow to get up, clutching his back. The dunk gave Arizona a 57-33 lead with 15:43 remaining in the game.

UCLA would only trim one point off that lead the remainder of the game, falling 88-65 in their final regular season Pac-12 matchup with Arizona.

Arizona outscored UCLA in transition 18-3 as they cut the Bruins transition defense into shreds. One of the lone bright spots defensively for the Bruins was Bona, who finished with five blocks. He was the only UCLA player to block a shot on the night.

The Bruins wrap up their regular season hosting the Arizona State Wildcats (14-16) this Saturday before heading to Vegas for the final Pac-12 conference tournament next week before the NCAA tournament begins.