INGLEWOOD — It’s not early March in Las Vegas, but it was No. 15 UCLA and No. 5 Arizona all the same. A slugfest between old-school Pac-12 powerhouses, a flat-out bloodbath, as Bruins head coach Mick Cronin predicted on Thursday.
While the Bruins and Wildcats have relocated to separate conferences, they have continued to schedule one another every year, and that showed as they seemed to know each other’s every move on Friday night.
Passes were anticipated before they were thrown. Defenders beat drivers to the spot, effectively protecting the rim. The officials added to the narrative, holding their whistle apart from blatant combat.
UCLA guard Skyy Clark kept Arizona counterpart Jaden Bradley quiet for the first 35 minutes of Friday’s game, but he erupted for 13 points in the last five minutes to lift the Wildcats to a 69-65 win in the second game of a Hall of Fame Series doubleheader at the Intuit Dome.
Anthony Dell’Orso led all scorers with 20 points, seemingly hitting a 3-pointer whenever the Wildcats needed it. Like Dell’Orso, Tyler Bilodeau was UCLA’s steady hand, scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
While Arizona (4-0) had the more imposing frontcourt on paper, displaying so against Florida on opening night, UCLA (3-1) set the tone physically. Bilodeau, learning from the post-defense drill in practice, fronted Montiejus Krivas, preventing entry passes. He corralled a defensive rebound, leading to a transition 3-pointer from Eric Dailey Jr.
Bilodeau taught freshman Koa Peat a lesson as the freshman left his hand in the cookie jar and the senior forward ripped through for an and-one 15-foot jumper to put UCLA ahead by 10.
Donovan Dent, still accustomed to a Mountain West Conference whistle, drove aimlessly and when he didn’t get the foul calls he got trapped.
He finished the first half with three turnovers and had one of his shots blocked by Krivas on the final possession of the frame.
The Bruins played solid defense for most of the first half, forcing Arizona into eight turnovers, but they left the wrong man open a few too many times. Dell’Orso knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, none of which were contested. Once his shot was respected, he played off his shot-fake, driving past Xavier Booker Jr. for a nifty reverse layup.
Just as UCLA seemed to be settling in as Dent drove for a pair of floaters, the Wildcats flipped the script, forcing Dailey and Clark into consecutive turnovers that resulted in run-outs and easy layups for Ivan Kharchenkov, his second giving Arizona a 39-32 lead.
Despite Arizona building a lead, Dent clearly had gained comfort. He ran a two-man game with Bilodeau, finding the big man for a 3-pointer and a jumper. Then he drove for an and-one floater.
But it was during Dent’s time on the bench that the Bruins made their most significant run. Clark drove and dished to Dailey for a high-flying dunk. Dailey found Bilodeau for a game-tying 3-pointer. Clark came around a screen from Bilodeau and pulled up for a 17-footer.
UCLA’s improvement in taking care of the ball led to better looks throughout the second half. Dent returned to the game and found Dailey for a 3-pointer from the corner and Bilodeau flared off a screen for a 3-pointer to make it 57-49 lead.
But Arizona came roaring back as Bradley escaped the reaches of Clark, getting to the line and hitting a mid-range jumper. Dent got crossmatched onto Krivas and the Bruins sent help, but the overcompensation left Dell’Orso free for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats a one-point advantage.
UCLA regained the lead twice more, but Bradley cashed another 3-pointer from the right wing to seal it as Arizona closed the game on a 16-6 run.
Despite the loss, the Bruins proved they were in an elite class. Arizona has already beaten defending national champion Florida and UCLA hung tough with the Wildcats. In fact, it had the game its grasp until Bradley stole it.
More to come on this story.