Arizona Wildcats to meet UCLA in Pac-12 Tournament championship, season rubber match

LAS VEGAS — The Pac-12 Tournament championship game is set — and the result will determine the season rubber match. 

Top-seeded Arizona will face second-seeded UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament title game after the Bruins outlasted USC 69-59 Friday night in the semifinals. Arizona held off fourth-seeded Colorado 82-72 behind UA forward Azuolas Tubelis' 20-point, 11-rebound performance. 

UCLA standout Jaime Jaquez, who scored 19 points for the Bruins Friday night, said the championship showdown on Saturday with a presumably No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament "is a great opportunity for our team." ESPN "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi currently has the Bruins (25-6) as a No. 4 seed in the West Region. The Wildcats are a projected No. 1 seed in the South Region. 

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“It’ll really give us a good test for where we are proceeding into March," Jaquez said. "It’ll be a fun experience, it’s what we all work for, trying to get that trophy.”

Saturday will mark the third time Arizona and UCLA will meet this season, with the Wildcats winning the most recent contest at McKale Center 76-66. UA fell to the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion 75-59, handing Arizona its first conference loss of the season. It will also be the third time Arizona and UCLA will have met in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game, with the series at 1-1. Arizona fell to UCLA in the 2014 title game and the first meeting was in 1990, when Jud Buechler and Matt Muehlebach were co-Pac-10 Tournament MVPs. 

The Pac-12 Tournament championship game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.