The UCLA Bruins were playing without Jaylen Clark and Adem Bona, two of their best defensive players, in Saturday night’s Pac-12 Tournament final in Las Vegas. It was reasonable to think that an Arizona Wildcat team with quality big man, Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis, would be able to pound the Bruins into submission and score a decisive win.
That did not happen.
However, while Arizona did not win decisively, it did prevail. The Wildcats used a late 3-pointer from Courtney Ramey to score a 61-59 win over the Bruins and capture another Pac-12 Tournament title. This is Arizona’s ninth Pac-12 Tournament crown. UCLA last won this tournament in 2014. UCLA has won this event once in the past 15 seasons.
UCLA’s defense did not really suffer despite the absences of Clark and Bona. UCLA’s offense failed to reach 60 points. Arizona was able to turn the Bruins into a jump-shooting team. UCLA was not able to get to the rim or the foul line nearly as much as it needed to. Empty possessions mounted for the Bruins, and Arizona was able to battle UCLA on even terms despite lacking polish and precision on offense.
The result likely makes UCLA a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lifts Arizona to a No. 2 seed. Purdue will likely get a No. 1 seed instead of UCLA.
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