Keep checking back for more pregame and in-game coverage …
Arizona fails to convert on the final possession and loses 66-64 to UCLA after holding an 11-point lead with 10:24 to go.
Solomon Hill took the final shot for the Cats. He caught the ball up top and head-faked his way inside the 3-point line, putting up a leaning 17-footer. It went off the rim with less than 3 seconds left … and no one secured the ball as time ran out.
UCLA advances to the Pac-12 conference title game. Arizona awaits an NCAA bid after a 25-7 season.
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Grant Jerrett ties the game at 64 with a 3-pointer from up top with 54.6 seconds left after a kick-out pass from Solomon Hill. UCLA re-takes the lead on Kyle Anderson’s follow after a missed jumper from Jordan Adams.
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After Shabazz Muhammad misses a shot, Mark Lyons has the ball stolen on the other end by Jordan Adams. He starts a fast break, and Kaleb Tarczewski has to foul him. That’s five on him and he’s done.
Adams makes both free throws for a 64-61 lead.
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Kaleb Tarczewski shoots two with 1:41 to go. Wide right, good. 62-61, UCLA.
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Shabazz Muhammad gave UCLA the lead with two free throws before Brandon Ashley knotted the game again with a 15-foot jumper. Travis Wear, fouled on a strong drive to the hoop, puts in two free throws with 2:04 left to make it 62-60.
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Shades of Crabbe and Dinwiddie. Jordan Adams with 16 second-half points vs. Arizona. Tied at 58, 3:11 left.
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Lost internet connection for a while … here is where we are: tied at 58 with 3:11 to go, final media timeout. UCLA tied the game at 56 on two free throws by Jordan Adams after a technical on the UA bench. Solomon Hill answered with an emphatic dunk, but Adams came back with a reverse layup.
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Jordan Adams hits a short jumper for UCLA to make it a 9-0 run. The Bruins are within 49-47 with 8:14 to go, as Sean Miller calls timeout. Hey, did you really expect Arizona to run away with this?
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Looks like Sean Miller ready to rip off his jacket in frustration over some calls. Shabazz Muhammad back to the line for an and-one. He makes it to cut the lead to 49-45.
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Was ready for a hard foul by Kevin Parrom on a fast break by Shabazz Muhammad, but Muhammad is able to make the layup while drawing a soft foul. He misses the free throw, though, as UCLA gets to 49-42 with 9:40 to go.
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Before last game vs. UCLA, assistant James Whitford said UA had to win the rebounding battle — and do it by a lot. It’s happening tonight: 34-21.
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An offensive rebound falls into the hands of Brandon Ashley, and he knows what to do with it, taking a big step toward the hoop and dunking it for a 43-34 lead. David Wear comes back with a long jumper — but UCLA is still 0 for 8 from 3-point range. Scary thought for Arizona: What if those 3s start falling?
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This is all far from over, of course, and you have to be aware of how UCLA turned it on late to beat Arizona State yesterday, but Arizona doing a fine job controlling Larry Drew (no points, one assist) and Shabazz Muhammad (two points, 1 of 5 shooting).
Arizona leads 39-32 with 14:35 to go. Kaleb Tarczewski has 11 rebounds, two off his career high.
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If crowd noise translated to final score, Arizona would win this one about 70-30.
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Mark Lyons’ 3-pointer gives Arizona its largest lead of the game at 35-26 with 18:26 to play. UCLA is still looking for its first 3-point shot of the game.
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Arizona has only lost this season when allowing 70-plus points. UCLA has 26 at half, a long way to go. But it’s only a four-point game. Should be a thriller.
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UCLA has the ball for the last possession of the half, but comes up empty. An in-bounds pass from under the basket goes to Kyle Anderson, but he short-arms a 5-footer … and the Wildcats take a 30-26 lead into the break.
Kaleb Tarczewski has nine rebounds. Brandon Ashley has nine points.
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UCLA tries to tie the game, but Larry Drew’s drive to the hoop is thwarted by Kaleb Tarczewski, who blocks the shot, catches it and gets a fast break going with a pass to Nick Johnson. Johnson is fouled with 2:10 to go, and he makes both free throws for a 28-24 lead.
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Four free throws by UCLA’s Jordan Adams has cut the lead to 26-22 at the last media timeout of the half. Kevin Parrom picked up his second foul with 3:47 left by needlessly grabbing at the ball after Kyle Anderson had secured the rebound.
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Arizona takes its biggest lead at 26-18 on another Solomon Hill 3-pointer. The formula isn’t hard to figure — play defense with focus and intensity, hit some 3s.
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Arizona sure looks good when its shots are falling (funny how that works, huh). The thing is, the Cats are taking good shots and are 3 of 5 from 3-point range, including one from Solomon Hill to put Arizona up 23-18 with 6:13 to go.
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Tweets Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: “Most underrated nutty college hoops fans are Arizona folks..they travel like Kentucky, thousands in Vegas, overwhelming everything.”
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Plenty of good energy from Arizona (both teams, actually), and Arizona’s Brandon Ashley is very active, with seven points, scoring inside and out.
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Nick Johnson shutting down Larry Drew II on the defensive end so far. Arizona leads 17-14 with 10:22 to go, and Drew has no points and only one assist. As Solomon Hill said of Drew — “he’s the head runner” of the Bruins; edge to the Cats if they can cut off the head.
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Arizona leads 8-6 at the first break in the action, with 14:53 to go. Nick Johnson’s wide-open 3-pointer was the latest score, and having him be aggressive and in “attack mode” is a big, big deal for the Wildcats. Kaleb Tarczewski already has five rebounds, asserting his physical superiority inside, but his counterpart, versatile Travis Wear has four points.
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Football coach Rich Rodriguez back for more hoops action. He’s sitting second row courtside, next to Suns owner Robert Sarver, in front of the media. Must resist the temptation to toss crumpled game notes at the back of his head.
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Arizona is wearing its red road unis, which it hasn’t done for a while. Went with blue for most (all?) of conference season.
PREGAME
LAS VEGAS — Arizona plays UCLA tonight in a key showcase game for the Pac-12, one that feels like a title tilt.
It’s only the semifinals of the conference tournament from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but whichever team wins will be favored over either of the teams that advance from the other semifinal — overachieving Utah or scuffling Oregon.
With the stakes, the rivalry — and the redemption angle that comes from Arizona being swept by UCLA in the season series — call this one of the Wildcats’ most anticipated games in the past several years (save for the team’s scintillating run through the NCAA Tournament in 2011).
“I’m happy we play them again,” said senior Kevin Parrom.
“I’m sure we’re going to match their intensity tomorrow. Each game we played this season, they played harder than we did. We’ll play hard. We’ll be fine.”
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UCLA is looking for its third consecutive victory over Arizona but has a long way to go before reaching the nine-game streak it had over the Cats from January 2006 to January 2009.
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Tonight’s game will have seeding implications for the NCAA Tournament for both teams. Entering today’s games, Arizona was a No. 3 seed in USA Today’s bracketology, a No. 3 by CBSSports.com and a No. 4 seed on ESPN.com.
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More pregame reading:
Arizona-UCLA: Three things to watch
Sweat over swagger: Arizona establishes play-hard mentality
McKale on the Strip: Arizona fans look to take over Pac-12 tournament
Javier Morales: Nick Johnson considers another shot against UCLA a great blessing
Javier Morales: Arizona faces another physical challenge against UCLA’s double screens