UCLA
25-7,15-5Pac-12
Arizona
31-3,18-2Pac-12
UCLA Falls to Arizona in Pac-12 Tournament Title Game
March 12, 2022 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS โ Top-seeded Arizona defeated No. 2-seed UCLA, 84-76, in the championship contest of the Pac-12 Tournament at T-Mobile Arena before a crowd of 14,401 on Saturday night.
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The Bruins (25-7) led 50-39 early in the second half before Arizona used a 24-8 scoring run through a nine-minute stretch to claim a 63-58 cushion. Arizona outscored UCLA by a 49-36 margin in the second half.
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Jules Bernard led four Bruins who scored in double figures with 19 points. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds, notching his sixth double-double of the season.
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Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin led the Wildcats with 27 points.
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Arizona took a quick 10-4 lead to start the game, but Tyger Campbell answered with five-straight points to cut the Bruins' deficit to one at the 13:54 mark in the first half.
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UCLA tookย its first lead of the contest when Bernard scored in the paint, putting UCLA ahead 18-17 at the 9:17 mark. The game continued to see-saw before Bernard connected on a turnaround jumper, giving the Bruins a 24-21 lead.
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Later, Christian Koloko cut UCLA's lead to one after hitting a pair of free throws, but the Bruins fired right back with a 5-0 personal run for Jaquez Jr., making it 34-28 with 2:38 remaining in the half. UCLA held a two-point advantage before Johnny Juzang closed out the first half in style, as he drained a contested triple at the buzzer to give the Bruins a 40-35 lead at the break.
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Juzang was the only scorer in double figures after the first 20 minutes, totaling 11 points on 5-8 shooting. Campbell contributed nine points and Jaquez Jr. added seven points and five rebounds. Mathurn led the Wildcats with nine points and two assists.
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The Bruins extended their lead to seven to start the second half after a triple from Campbell and a three-point play from Jaquez Jr. Two free throws from Bernard made it 48-39 and Campbell then added an elbow jumper to give UCLA an 11-point lead.
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Arizona countered with a 15-2 run to retake a one-point lead with under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. Bernard halted the stretch with a crucial three-pointer from the left elbow extended, putting the Bruins back on top, 58-56.
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The Wildcats continued their hot streak with an additional 7-0 run before Bernard scored four-straight points to cut Arizona's lead to a point. Arizona scored the next five points and the teams exchanged baskets for several possessions, with the Wildcats securing a 78-72 advantage at the 2:53 media stoppage.
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UCLA continued to battle and cut the deficit to four by way of a second-chance bucket from Cody Riley but could not reduce Arizona's margin to any fewer than four points.
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The Bruins will now await their NCAA Tournament seed assignment, which will be announced on Sunday, March 13. The NCAA's Selection Show will air on CBS at 3:00 p.m. (PT).ย
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: UCLA's Jules Bernard and Jaime Jaquez Jr. were selected to the All-Pac-12 Tournament Team, as announced at the conclusion of Saturday's game. Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin was named the tournament's "Most Outstanding Player." The other selections to this season's All-Tournament Team included Stanford's Spencer Jones, Arizona's Christian Koloko and USC's Boogie Ellis.
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