Tyler Bilodeau scored a game-high 17 points as No. 24 UCLA used a second-half rally to beat Arizona 57-54 on Saturday as part of the Hall of Fame Series in Phoenix.
UCLA trailed 49-36 with 10:49 left but outscored the Wildcats 21-5 down the stretch. The Bruins (9-1) have won eight straight games, while the Wildcats (4-5) dropped to 0-5 against power-conference opponents.
Skyy Clark scored 15 points and Kobe Johnson chipped in seven points and seven rebounds for UCLA.
Jaden Bradley scored 12 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out six assists for the Wildcats. Trey Townsend added 10 points. Arizona leading scorer Caleb Love (14.1 points per game) was held to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field.
Dylan Andrews’ steal and coast-to-coast layup tied the game at 52 with 3:43 left. UCLA forced a turnover on the next Arizona possession, and Eric Dailey Jr. split a pair of free throws to put the Bruins ahead to stay.
The Bruins’ top-ranked scoring defense, which had allowed 55.1 ppg coming in, stymied the high-scoring Wildcats. Arizona entered the game 10th nationally at 87.1 ppg. The Bruins also scored 27 points off 22 turnovers.
Arizona took its first lead since it was 3-0 when Carter Bryant back cut his defender and pounded in a two-hand slam for a 26-24 lead with 4:03 left in the first half. It highlighted a 10-0 Arizona run as the teams headed into the final media timeout of the half.
Arizona’s rally included 7-of-9 field-goal shooting and coincided with four UCLA turnovers. Johnson’s steal and lay-in off his missed 3-pointer put the Bruins back on top 27-26.
In the first half, UCLA forced 13 turnovers. But in the second half, the Wildcats didn’t give the ball away until there was 12 minutes left.
Arizona collected its first double-digit lead on Bailey’s back-to-back layups on a 13-2 run. The Wildcats took a 49-36 lead, just before UCLA went on its game-sealing run.
–Field Level Media
