No. 24 UCLA men’s basketball wakes up to edge Arizona
PHOENIX — Tyler Bilodeau scored 17 points, Skyy Clark added 15 and No. 24 UCLA rallied from a 13-point deficit midway through the second half to beat Arizona 57-54 on Saturday.
UCLA (9-1) won its eighth straight game, shaking off a poor shooting afternoon. Bilodeau was crucial down the stretch, making 6 of 12 shots on a variety of mid-range and post moves. Clark grabbed an offensive rebound with eight seconds left, was immediately fouled, and then made two free throws to set the final margin.
Arizona’s KJ Lewis missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.
The Wildcats (4-5) opened the second half on a 21-6 run and took a 49-36 lead with 10:49 left after Jaden Bradley made two driving layups on back-to-back possessions. Bradley led the Wildcats with 12 points.
The Bruins fought back in a gritty second-half performance. UCLA shot just 2 of 11 from the field and 2 of 6 on free throws over the first 10 minutes of the second half.
But the Bruins slowly recovered and Dylan Andrews made a layup with 3:35 left to tie it at 52-all. Bilodeau later hit a short jumper with 1:42 left to give UCLA a 55-52 lead.
The longtime Pac-12 rivals met in downtown Phoenix as members of different conferences for the first time since 1978. UCLA is in its inaugural season in the Big Ten, as is Arizona in the Big 12.
UCLA came into the game giving up just 55.1 points per game, which ranked No. 1 in college basketball and paired well with Arizona struggling to score efficiently, particularly with preseason All-America selection Caleb Love mired in a shooting slump.
Next up for UCLA is a nonconference game against Prairie View A&M at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion.