LAS VEGAS — All the talk of UCLA’s ability to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament, from the preseason to recent weeks, has centered around the Bruins’ experience. Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell and David Singleton know the ropes and can lead the Bruins through adversity, so the conventional wisdom goes.
But when UCLA faced its first March challenge in Thursday’s Pac-12 quarterfinals against a no-quit Colorado team, it was the Bruins’ freshmen, not the seniors, who led UCLA out of the darkness.
Amari Bailey scored a career-high 26 points and Adem Bona provided all the hustle plays top-seeded UCLA needed to dispatch ninth-seeded Colorado 80-69 at T-Mobile Arena.
A Bailey layup put UCLA ahead to start the second half, and each time Colorado took the lead or threatened, the freshman guard seemed to answer. Running out in transition to draw a foul and make his free throws. Or dribbling in and pulling up for a go-ahead jumper.
But when hustle was needed, that was Bona’s calling card. He dove into the Bruins’ bench in an attempt to save a loose ball. He took a charge in the second half and immediately made the go-ahead layup on the other end. And he soared through the air for transition blocks to erase his teammates’ mistakes.
Still, Colorado hung around, cutting an eight-point UCLA lead to four with 2:26 to play. By then, it was time for Jaquez to take over. He intercepted a Tristan da Silva pass and took it the distance, finishing a layup through a foul and hugging the base of the hoop before completing a three-point play to get the requisite breathing room.
And so UCLA survived its first game without Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark after his lower-leg injury, and moved onto the conference semifinals to face either Oregon or Washington State on Friday.
Colorado sunk 3-pointers on the first two possessions of the game and made its first four shots. Still, it didn’t feel like this was a result of Clark’s absence so much as the Bruins getting into the flow of the game. Indeed, UCLA held Colorado to no field goals over the next 4:29.
Bailey got the Bruins back into the game, with a transition layup cutting the Colorado lead to one before he put UCLA ahead for the first time with a corner 3. When the guard flipped an offensive rebound behind his head and off the glass for a layup, you knew he was feeling it.
But Colorado kept answering, shooting a sweltering 58% from the floor in a first half that featured 10 lead changes as the teams exchanged blows.
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After the game was tied at 28, Campbell hit a pair of free throws, Bona blocked a Colorado shot at the rim and Jaquez hit a floater over two defenders. It felt like momentum was shifting in UCLA’s direction.
But the first-half lead never grew past four, and back-to-back 3-pointers pushed the Buffs to a 38-37 lead into halftime.