Three weeks ago, it was the battle of the unbeatens.

UCLA pulled out all the stops in that third quarter to upend Arizona. As big games go, they didn’t get much bigger — until Friday night, that is.

This time, the Wildcats were ready.

Arizona punched first on both sides of the court. It was all working and they put on a clinic, pulling the upset with a 92-66 thrashing of UCLA at McKale Center, Friday night in front of 7.407 in attendance.

Arizona improves to 17-3, 6-3, while UCLA picks up its second loss of the season, dropping to 18-2, 7-2.

Arizona Wildcats guard Helena Pueyo (13) and Arizona Wildcats guard Aarion McDonald (2) block UCLA Bruins guard Chantel Horvat (0) from getting the ball to the basket during a game at the McKale Center, on Jan. 31, 2020.

Friday’s win allowed the Wildcats to tick off a number of firsts. The Wildcats beat their first top-10 opponent since 2004, when they beat No. 7 Stanford. It is the first time they’ve beaten UCLA while they are ranked since 2005, and the first time since March 2012 that they’ve beaten the Bruins at all.

It’s also the first time since the 1997-98 season they’ve beaten ranked opponents in back-to-back games.

The victory was Arizona’s 17th of the season; the Wildcats have now won 17 regular season games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Arizona understood the importance of this game and wanted it. UA coach Adia Barnes said she sensed it during the pregame shootaround.

“We came out on fire; we came out a hot; we came out intense,” Barnes said. “We came out with the eye of the tiger. Aari (McDonald) was hot in the beginning but it wasn't only Aari – it was everybody.

“One turnover in the first half against UCLA defense is remarkable. They're really good team and they're really good defensive team. Their pressure bothered us at UCLA. But, we handled their pressure. We had some huge plays. I mean, a huge, huge win for us against a very good team. …We always talk about with this program -- about leaving a legacy. And this is how you start. I'm just proud of them. We played we played our butts off tonight.”

Arizona Wildcats guard Aarion McDonald (2) drives the ball towards the basket during a game against the UCLA Bruins at the McKale Center, on Jan. 31, 2020.

McDonald extended her streak — 57 consecutive games scoring in double-figures, the longest active streak in the nation. She finished with a team-high 27 points, 18 of them coming in the first half.

“It felt good,” McDonald said. “I was on fire...I felt different today.”

Junior Sam Thomas added 20 points, finishing two short of her career high. Thomas was punched in the nose during the fourth quarter and sat on the bench the rest of the game.

After the game she assured her teammates that her nose wasn’t broken and that she didn’t have a concussion. “Just a little bump in the road,” she said.

Thomas went 4 for 4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Thomas moves into a tie for eighth place with Lucia Alonso on the UA’s career 3s list. Both have 116.

On back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, Thomas had a block and drew a charge.

“UCLA is known for their third quarters, they are a second half team,” Thomas said. “That's where they score. I think last time we played them had 28 points, just alone in the third quarter. That was our main focus of go out there play tough because we know they're coming for us. We're really just trying to lock in on defense and be focused and read the defense. Coach Jackie (Nared) was telling us how to take charges what their specialties are. We're just trying to read that.”

Arizona Wildcats forward Sam Thomas (14) drives into UCLA Bruins forward Lauryn Miller (33) on her way to the basket during a game at the McKale Center, on Jan. 31, 2020.

Cate Reese scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

In the third quarter as Arizona extended the lead to 70-48 advantage, it became a matter of how much the Wildcats would hold the Bruins under their scoring average of 74.4%. Arizona is the only team in the league to hold all their Pac-12 opponents under their scoring average this season.

In that third frame their defense kicked it up even more swarming ball handlers, forcing a shot clock violation and errant passes.

Arizona held UCLA’s Michaela Onyenwere to 18 points, less than her 19.8 points-per-game average; Japreece Dean scored just two points, well under her 14.6 point average.

The Wildcats started the game quickly — just what Barnes said she wanted.

Everyone got in on the action from Dominique McBryde picking up an assist on an Amari Carter drive to Reese with an inside basket.

Then came McDonald. She hit a 3 and scored on back-to-back drives to open up an 11-point lead, 17-6, with 5:21 left in the first quarter to force UCLA to call a timeout. A short time later, McDonald was 4 for 4 as UA was up 20-8.

In that first quarter UA shot 75% and held UCLA 37%.

That swarming defense showed up and was pressing, stripping balls, forcing passes out of bounds and altering shots — even easy baskets.

With 3:37 left in the first frame, Helena Pueyo stepped into the passing lane and picked up her first of two steals in the half.

In the second quarter it was more of the same as the defense got deflections and forced bad shots.

Arizona Wildcats guard Aarion McDonald (2) cracks up with Arizona Wildcats guard Helena Pueyo (13) and other teammates on the bench during a game against the UCLA Bruins at the McKale Center, on Jan. 31, 2020. The Wildcats took the win from the eighth ranked team with a final score of 92-66.

With 2:16 left in the half, UA took a 20-point lead — their largest of the half — before allowing UCLA to close within 15 to end the half, 47-32.

Arizona hit 50% of their 3s in the half, making 7 of 14 attempts.

Barnes said she knows how important this win is for the season and for the program.

"We continue to do things that no one expected but we expected," she said. "We didn't go to half court and celebrate … we didn't like jump up and act like we won a national championship, because this is an expectation, we expected to win the game. We know we can. So for us this is not an upset. We know nationally it's an upset but we feel like we can play with anyone. That's just kind of our standard.”

Rim shots

• The Wildcats were practicing Sunday when the news of Kobe Bryant’s death came in. No one thought it was real, but when it was confirmed Barnes talked to her team about it and offered support to anyone who needed it.

“I really think it hit everyone later. We were all pretty upset about it,” Barnes said.

The UA held a nine-second moment of silence before the game to commemorate those lost in the crash. Many of the Wildcats — Thomas, McBryde, Tara Manumaleuga, Sevval Gul, Reese, Helena Pueyo, Mara Mote, and Birna Benonysdottir — wore Kobe shoes. In addition, Thomas flashed the “24” sign with her fingers as she ran through the tunnel during the starters’ announcements.

• Arizona shot 55% and held UCLA to 34%.

• UCLA out-rebounded UA 37-31.

Check out more photos from the game: 

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