UCLA, Arizona confirmed to meet again in Las Vegas early next season

LOS ANGELES — On a rainy Southern California evening at the end of a workweek, just east of the I-405 traffic slop, enough Arizona and UCLA fans still showed up to fill the Intuit Dome’s vast open air with rowdy, competing chants Friday evening.

That sort of thing will continue, Pac-12 or not.

UA assistant coach TJ Benson confirmed after the Wildcats beat the Bruins on Friday that the former conference rivals will complete their current three-year contract with a game in Las Vegas early next season, and UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he hoped another contract would follow.

After the Pac-12 imploded following the 2023-24 season, Cronin and UA coach Tommy Lloyd quickly agreed to a three-year deal that had their teams playing in Phoenix last season and was scheduled to be renewed in Las Vegas this season, then in Los Angeles next season.

The order for the last two games was flipped, but Benson and Cronin said the final game now will be played in Las Vegas. Cronin also said he expected it would open the season much like Arizona did with Florida at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 3.

For Cronin, part of the motivation is simple geography: Upset last season with a combination of nonconference East Coast games and the cross-country travel required of the Bruins’ new Big Ten membership, Cronin didn’t schedule the Bruins to leave the West Coast in nonconference play this season.

Lloyd indicated it’s about proximity, too. But also that it’s also all those “U of A” chants on Friday.

“I think it’s extremely important,” Lloyd said. “I don’t know if it’s a love-hate deal (for fans) but not for me. I think there’s a mutual respect between the programs and I think programs in the West Coast need to protect each other.

“There’s not a lot of us out here. There’s a lot of space out west and only a select few programs that are playing at the highest level, and us and UCLA happen to be a couple of them.”

The Wildcats could also schedule Gonzaga, which actually is still owed a game with Arizona to be played in Spokane, Washington, but that series was indefinitely postponed for obvious reasons once Arizona hired Lloyd away from the Zags in 2021.

Then there’s Oregon and Washington, which are farther away from Tucson than some Big 12 schools, and Saint Mary’s, which UA has preferred to play only in preseason matchups.

There are a few other options out West, but none that have the history of Arizona and UCLA, recent or past. So far in the three-year series, the Bruins won the first game by three points and the Wildcats won the second by four points.

That’s probably no surprise to anyone.

“I think the matchups are great for our fan bases, it’s great for college basketball, and I think it serves both programs well,” Lloyd said. “There’s no shame in losing to UCLA, and I don’t think there’s any shame in losing to Arizona. I think both programs are better for playing the game.”

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Good enough

This season’s Arizona-UCLA game attracted an announced crowd of only 7,554, though the crowd was vocal. Color-coded lights at seats matched those for both teams when they rallied, adding to the atmosphere.

Arizona fans appeared to make up roughly 40% of the crowd, even though the game was played just 13 miles from the UCLA campus.

“The (UA) crowd was great,” wing Anthony Dell’Orso said. “We always have a good fan base. I thought UCLA had a great fan base, but you’ve got to do your best to kind of block that out.”

Shout out

UA assistant coach Ken Nakagawa is not one to take credit for scouting work, so Lloyd did it for him after the Wildcats scored on all five possessions they had over the final 3½ minutes Friday.

The scores included 3-pointers from Dell’Orso and Jaden Bradley, though Bradley’s was off a pass from center Motiejus Krivas when a play broke down, while Bradley also drove in nearly uncontested for two layups and Dell’Orso added two free throws.

When Lloyd was told Cronin said the difference in the game was Arizona’s late execution, the UA coach dished credit.

“We found an action that Ken Nakagawa, one of our assistants, gave me an idea about, and we ran with it,” Lloyd said. “It kind of put JB in a good spot those last few possessions.”

At the same time, on the other end of the floor, Lloyd said a decision to “get a feel” for switching defensively also paid off. Over those same final 3½ minutes, UCLA made just 3 of 8 shots, including a missed layup by Bruin point guard Donovan Dent and a missed jumper by forward Tyler Bilodeau.

“Fortunately, we switched, and I think the ball got out of Dent’s hands a little bit,” Lloyd said. “Bilodeau wasn’t able to get a rhythm 3. He creates situations where, if you don’t switch him, he pops and it puts a lot of stress on your defense. We just wanted them to try to make individual plays over our size.

“And thank God we got up four, and the game ended. Because I’m sure if it would have went a few more minutes, UCLA would have had an adjustment that we would have had to figure out.”