With a conference trophy at stake on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the Arizona men’s basketball team squared off against the UCLA Bruins, fighting to be the Pac-12 Tournament Champions.
The Wildcats were battle-tested early on in the first half. The officials called the game tight, limiting the physicality, especially touch fouls. The first half concluded with 20+ fouls on both ends, each team was challenged early, unable to get in a rhythm. Head coach Tommy Lloyd was already dealing with a smaller bench than usual as Kerr Kriisa missed his second straight game due to a right ankle sprain, putting Justin Kier into the starting role.
Kier was forced to the bench at the 7-minute mark in the first half. Needless to say, Arizona was forced to “go big,” with no point guard available. Head coach Tommy Lloyd needed an answer and Dalen Terry answered the call.
Arizona had to overcome their largest deficit in the half which began at the 11:04 mark. The Bruins had a 53-41 lead, and then the Dalen Terry show began.
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Terry showed tremendous signs of growth down the stretch, finding Bennedict Mathurin for a 3-pointer basket down the right-wing, giving Arizona the lead.
Oumar Ballo set a screen at the top of the key, and Terry threw an absolute dart of a backdoor pass to Pelle Larsson for a layup.
Terry was engaged on both ends of the floor in the second half. At one moment, Lloyd sent Mathurin to the table to come back into the game. Mathurin went backcourt in an attempt to receive the inbound pass, and Terry waved Mathurin off, saying, “I got it.”
The momentum shift at this time was evident. The Wildcats ended up going on a 22-5 run, and Terry’s ability to seize control and help erase a 12-point deficit halfway through the second half.
Terry stuffed the stat sheet while logging 36 minutes in the game. The sophomore finished with 15 points on an efficient 5/9 shooting. He is continuing to progress with his 3-point shooting as he was 2/4 from behind the arc. Terry also had seven assists and five rebounds to help bring the tournament trophy back to Tucson.
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