Heading into halftime with a ten point lead wasn’t enough as the UCLA upset bid of Arizona collapsed in what has become almost predictable fashion. The Wildcats outscored the Bruins by 16-points in the second act to win, 81-75.
Sean Miller’s group was balanced–five players scored nine or more points–but inefficient from the field all night. In fact, if it weren’t for the 45 free throws (not a typo, mind you) that the Wildcats shot, they’d likely have lost their second home game in three tries.
With the win, Arizona keeps pace with the rest of the conference and sits just one game behind first place Oregon. With the loss, UCLA falls to 13-11, 4-7 in conference play and, if the season ended today, now average more than 11 losses per year under head coach Steve Alford. Looking at the schedule, it isn’t ridiculous to think that the Bruins could finish the year with 15 losses.
Arizona State Knocks Off USC
Dealing with success hasn’t been USC’s strong suit, as their conference record setting losing streak while ranked continued in Tempe, falling 74-67 to the Sun Devils.
Arizona State got 20 points from point guard Tra Holder and 17 bench points from Savon Goodman as they completed the second-half comeback. USC’s Nikola Jovanovic dropped 25 points and 15 rebounds on the night, but it wasn’t enough to overcome off nights from the rest of the Trojans’ cast.
Andy Enfield’s group now sits 1.5-games back of first place but is still in good position to earn a first round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament.
