Undersized UCLA loses thrilling Pac-12 championship game to Arizona

LAS VEGAS — UCLA did everything right. Rotated, closed out, and watched Arizona superstar Azoulas Tubelis miss an open 3-pointer, all while the Bruins held onto a one-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining in the Pac-12 championship game.

But the Bruins, with no big men left to play, could only watch as Arizona center Oumar Ballo tipped the rebound, first to Pelle Larsson then back out to Tubelis, who swung it to Courtney Ramey. The senior guard stepped forward as if to drive, then stepped back. The shot went up and in, and the Wildcats took the lead.

The Bruins had one last chance, guard Tyger Campbell driving forward and drawing a foul on Ramey with 6.8 seconds left. But after making the first throw, Campbell’s second rolled off the rim.

Tubelis collected the rebound and split the free throws. Bruin guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. grabbed the rebound and found freshman Dylan Andrews open in the corner. But the potential game winner hit only the rim as Arizona held on, defeating UCLA 61-59 for the second straight year in the Pac-12 championship game.

Emotions ran high after the game. Asked about his takeaway from his team’s short-handed effort, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin could focus on only what he felt was a missed call on Ramey’s critical shot.

As he stepped back, Ramey extended his left arm into the body of UCLA guard Will McClendon. It was not a full extension, but McClendon spun with the contact before trying to recover and contest Ramey’s shot.

“My takeaway is an offensive foul not called and they hit a 3,” Cronin said shortly.

He did not have much else to add for much of the press conference. But when informed that UCLA radio reported an altercation between his father and an Arizona fan after the game, Cronin stormed out, followed hurriedly by athletic director Martin Jarmond.

Jarmond was seen speaking with Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff as Arizona cut down the nets at T-Mobile Arena.

The fact that UCLA had a chance to win at the buzzer was something of a surprise, given it began at an immediate disadvantage.

Starting center Adem Bona was out after suffering a left shoulder injury in Friday’s semifinal win over Oregon. He had no sling and UCLA expects him to return next week. But that was of no help to the Bruins in Vegas.

But Bona was replaced admirably in the first half by Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne.

Nwuba, who started in Bona’s place, grabbed a couple of early offensive rebounds. When he defended a Ballo shot then drew a charge from the Arizona center after an offensive rebound, Jaquez leaned over Nwuba and yelled encouragement in his face.

Etienne was sturdy on defense, too, blocking a Cedric Henderson floater down the baseline. He recovered well after a pick-and-roll to challenge Henri Veesaar at the rim and grab the defensive rebound.

“We don’t accept that if somebody was out, you’re supposed to lose,” Cronin said. “I don’t teach these guys that about life.”

It was manageable for UCLA when Arizona went with a four-guard lineup. But when the Wildcats deployed their two bigs, it left a Bruin guard to defend the Wildcats’ All-Pac-12 power forward, Tubelis.

If they saw him manned by a guard, the Wildcats quickly lobbed the ball into Tubelis and let him work. At first, the Bruins didn’t let him get comfortable in the paint, but he began to wear UCLA out, drawing fouls and finishing at the rim for 16 first-half points.

Despite a lively start fueled by the reactions of a largely pro-Arizona crowd, both teams started the game 1 for 9 from the floor. Amari Bailey hit that lone shot for UCLA and scored six of the Bruins’ first nine points.

The freshman guard helped the Bruins overcome the Wildcats’ punishing basketball. Bailey slalomed through defenders to the rim, using a double-clutch move at the basket to give the feisty Bruins a 34-33 lead at halftime.

And his best highlight, a one-handed dunk that would have been one of UCLA’s best plays of the season, was waved off for a push-off call that left Cronin fuming on the sideline.

Like his teammates, Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaquez was getting more rim than net to start the game, missing six of seven shots. He was getting to his spots, but either was off target or got blocked at the rim.

But he made his last two shots of the first half, once driving past Tubelis and drawing a foul as he finished off the backboard. After bumping his head against the base of the basket, he completed the three-point play.

That gave him enough confidence to hit his first two shots of the second half, and then suddenly he was everywhere. Stripping the ball from Tubelis, blocking the Arizona big man’s transition layup, hitting free throws.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that as Jaquez played at this level and elicited “MVP” from the UCLA student section, the Bruin lead grew to nine.

But at the same time, UCLA was losing men. Nwuba drew his third foul in the first minute of the second half, and Etienne replaced him while playing with three himself. At 12:31, Nwuba fouled Ballo on a layup and left the court again. Etienne picked up his fourth 30 seconds later, then his fifth with 9:35 to play. Nwuba fouled out five minutes later.

UCLA had to switch to a five-guard lineup. The Bruins played through the height disadvantage, holding Tubelis without a field goal in the second half.

But the Wildcats got seven offensive rebounds in the second half. And after missing all but two of their first 14 attempts from 3-point range, Arizona closed by making 4 of 6.

Those two realities collided as Ballo’s tip bounced around and found Ramey for his fateful shot.

Afterward, there just wasn’t much for UCLA to say, except for Jaquez to lament, “Yeah, it was a tough one.”

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