UCLA Men's Basketball Closes Out Big Road Win Over Arizona State
The last two times the Bruins made the trip down to Tempe, they wound up going to overtime and playing down to the final buzzer.
The blue and gold were not about to sweat one out against the Sun Devils and their raucous crowd this time around.
For most of the second half, it appeared as if No. 5 UCLA men's basketball (17-2, 8-0 Pac-12) would need every last possession to defeat Arizona State (15-4, 6-2) and hold onto first place in the conference, but closing the game on a 16-2 run helped them escape with a 74-62 victory. Up until the final 1:30, neither side led by more than two possessions the entire game.
Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. finally came alive after a sluggish start, though, chipping in to help the Bruins extend their winning streak to 14 games.
The last two times the Bruins won 14 games in a row – in the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons – they went to the Final Four at the end of the year.
Veteran guards Tyger Campbell and David Singleton led all players with 22 and 21 points, respectively, combining to shoot 14-of-21 from the field. Those scoring performances helped make up for Jaquez, guard Jaylen Clark and center Adem Bona combining for just four points in the first half, and they singlehandedly kept things close so their teammates' late game emergence could power UCLA to the victory.
It was ultimately the defense that helped pull out the win, allowing just two points on 1-for-8 shooting in the final 6:13.
The defense had a solid first few minutes as well, but the Bruins were unable to take advantage due to a sluggish start on the other end.
UCLA committed five turnovers in the first six minutes and also had three shots blocked in that span. The sloppy play was not restricted to the Bruins either, as the Sun Devils coughed the ball away four times in the opening four minutes.
Neither side scored more than three points in a row through seven minutes, but that ended when Clark hit some free throws and Singleton knocked down a midrange jumper. Over the next 3:50, however, the only made field goal from either team came on an Arizona State alley-oop when the refs missed an offensive goaltending call.
The officials still used their whistles plenty, with multiple offensive fouls on both teams contributing to a stretch of five straight turnovers.
After guard Austin Nunez hit another triple for Arizona State, UCLA answered with one of their own from point guard Dylan Andrews. The freshman got a steal just seconds later, then ran down the court for a slam dunk that put the Bruins up by two.
Andrews came down on top of a late contesting defender, though, and he said something to the Sun Devil on his way back down the court. There was a referee directly in between them, and he called Andrews for a technical foul.
Arizona State got both technical free throws to fall, then came through with a second-chance layup that put them up by two. Campbell wiped that out with a turnaround jumper, and it looked like UCLA would take the lead again after Bona kickstarted a fast break with a blocked 3-pointer.
Bona turned the ball over, however, and he got called for a blocking foul that led to go-ahead free throws for the Sun Devils. The freshman big man had no points at the half, all while turning the ball over five times and committing two fouls.
Singleton put UCLA back ahead on a desperation 3-pointer he banked in at the end of the shot clock, and the veteran leader chuckled his way back down the court.
Arizona State pulled back ahead thanks in large part to their nine made free throws in a four-minute span, although guard DJ Horne's contested step back triple with 28 seconds left and guard Desmond Cambridge Jr.'s halfcourt heave at the buzzer gave them their largest lead of the night.
The Bruins were down 35-30 at the break, shooting just 37.5% from the field while already exceeding their season average with 10 turnovers. The Sun Devils, on the other hand, were shooting 6-for-12 from deep and were keeping Jaquez in check.
Jaquez Jr. played just eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, and he and Clark combined to shoot 1-for-8 from the field.
Campbell and Singleton sparked an 8-0 run coming out of the locker room that, all while Jaquez continued to struggle. After missing two fast break layups, he missed back-to-back free throws while facing down the Curtain of Distraction.
The home crowd really got going when Cambridge hit a midrange jumper while falling out of bounds, and they took it to another level when he broke away for a 360 dunk. Even when Singleton seemed to end the 10-2 Sun Devil run with a 3-pointer, Cambridge immediately sank one of his own.
Still, the Bruins weren't going down without a fight, as Clark converted on an and-1 and Singleton went 2-for-2 from the line. When the Sun Devils answered with a dunk and a 3-pointer, Campbell knocked down another mid range jumper and drew a flop call that led to a technical free throw for Singleton.
Singleton finally tied things up at 57-57 with 7:50 to go on a corner trey, and Bona hit one free throw to give his team the lead.
The back-and-forth action continued when Collins' stepback 3-pointer took two bounces off the front rim before eventually going down, and Clark was unable to tie it up on the other end when he also went 1-for-2 from the stripe. UCLA retook the lead when Arizona State goaltended Jaquez's layup, and Jaquez's soccer throw-in style outlet pass on the ensuing possession led to a layup by Singleton at the other end.
Campbell continued to pour on the points with a step back jumper at the end of the shot clock, and that put the Bruins up by five inside four minutes. The crowd was ready for their team to slaw back into it when big man Warren Washington flushed home an alley-oop, but they were silenced when Jauqez got a stop then swished a straightaway triple.
With 90 seconds left on the clock, Jaquez sank a turnaround jumper that put UCLA up by eight. Bona then spun around to drop in a layup, giving the Bruins a double-digit lead for the first time all night.
The Sun Devils hardly ever had a chance to prevent the inevitable down the stretch, as their 18 turnovers caught up with them and led to 24 UCLA points. The Bruins, on the other hand, did not commit a turnover in the final 8:51 of action.
UCLA shot 60.7% from the field in the second half – hitting 14 of their final 19 attempts – while Arizona State shot 44.0%
UCLA will try to complete the road sweep Saturday, when they travel to Tucson to face No. 11 Arizona. That game between the Bruins and Wildcats will tip off at 11 a.m. and be televised on ABC.
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