Arizona loses to UCLA, drops 8th game of conference play

The Arizona Wildcats have now dropped four of their last five games and lost eight games in conference play.

Feb 18, 2021, 10:13 PM

Arizona head coach Sean Miller reacts to a call during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. UCLA won 74-60. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

LOS ANGELES — Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career-high 25 points and UCLA overwhelmed Arizona to start the second half before pulling away to a 74-60 victory on Thursday night.

The second-place Bruins (15-5, 11-3 Pac-12) got 13 points from Tyger Campbell and 10 points from Cody Riley in beating Arizona for the fifth straight time. They improved to 7-0 at home in Pac-12 play.

The Wildcats (14-8, 8-8) were led by James Akinjo with 21 points. Freshman Azuolas Tubelis added 18 points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes, his most of the season.

UCLA made 9 of 10 shots to start the second half and take a 49-39 lead. The Bruins outscored the Wildcats 19-8, getting six points each from Jaquez and Riley. Arizona missed six of its first nine shots.

The Wildcats got to 55-50 on a pair of free throws by Tubelis, who soon picked up his third foul.

Campbell made a 3-pointer and Jaquez Jr. ran off nine straight points, capped by a 3-pointer that pushed UCLA’s lead to 67-54. Johnny Juzang followed with a 3-pointer.

The Wildcats led 31-30 at halftime after being up by eight points. They were limited to one basket over the final 6:59 while getting outscored 10-4 during the Bruins’ first extended run of the game.

UCLA trailed most of the half until taking its first lead at 28-27 on a jumper by Jaquez Jr., who had four straight points in the Bruins’ late spurt. The teams traded one-point leads the rest of the half.

BIG PICTURE

Arizona: Sean Miller is sitting on 299 wins, which ranks third in school history. The Wildcats came in leading the Pac-12 with 76.2 points, but were held well under that.

UCLA: The Bruins need every win they can get in their four scheduled remaining games if they hope to overtake rival USC atop the Pac-12 standings.

UP NEXT

Arizona: Visits No. 17 USC on Saturday.

UCLA: Hosts Arizona State on Saturday.