UCLA defeated the Arizona men’s basketball team 82-73 Saturday, March 4. Tonight was also senior night for the Bruins. After erasing an 11-point first-half lead, Mick Cronin had his players in sync.
Arizona had many careless errors with the ball and most were unusual. Courtney Ramey and Azuolas Tubelis had ten out of the Wildcats’ 17 turnovers.
Tubelis had another stellar performance. He finished with 24 points and ten rebounds. Kylan Boswell continues to display his scoring ability off the bench.
“I have put the work in for myself,” Boswell said. “I’m getting more and more comfortable.”
Over the weekend against the Los Angeles schools, Boswell averaged 14 points on nine for 12 shooting from the field.
Since trailing at the midway point in the first half, Arizona looked lethargic. Tonight was an example of the Wildcats losing the game themselves rather than getting outplayed by the Bruins.
“Tonight was a great environment, UCLA was the more consistent and physical team for 40 minutes,” Lloyd said. “We battled, but we’re ready to put this one behind us and move on to postseason basketball.”
Arizona had everything clicking tonight until David Singleton started to heat up in the first half. The Arizona defense had difficulty marking the sharpshooter defensively and leaving him open. Jaime Jaquez was double-teamed in the post on several possessions. Then, Singleton, one the nation’s best 3-point shooters, was wide open along the wing and made Arizona pay on a few occasions. Ultimately, this was the turning point. Singleton had four 3-pointers in the first half and UCLA never looked back.
For Arizona, Oumar Ballo’s inconsistency is starting to become a concern. The dominant Ballo that was seen throughout the first few months of the season has not been the same. Tubelis has been responsible for carrying the majority of the workload.
The Bruin senior trio of Jaime Jaquez, Tyger Campbell and David Singleton showed out for their last game at Pauley Pavilion. The group combined for 60 points. With tonight’s loss, the Wildcats split the regular season series with UCLA.
Next up, Arizona will have a few days of practice before playing in the quarter finals of the PAC-12 tournament on Thursday. The Wildcats will play the winner of the Utah Utes and Stanford Cardinal game on Thursday, March 9, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Follow Aidan Alperstein on Twitter
