LOS ANGELES — Despite all the feel-good buzz Arizona has generated this season while rocketing to a No. 3 ranking, the Wildcats still couldn’t get past a familiar old problem Tuesday.
That is, they had to play UCLA. At Pauley Pavilion, no less.
The Wildcats lost to the Bruins for the sixth consecutive game and fourth in a row at Pauley, this time 75-59, and it really was never close after the first 15 minutes.
UCLA, a unanimous preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 after returning the vast majority of a Final Four team from last season, simply played like a conference favorite.
The Bruins shot 50% from the field, far better than any UA opponent had previously this season and, after an initial shooting outburst from the Wildcats, held UA to a season-low 30.7% shooting on the other end of the floor.
“We’ve obviously had a really good start to the season and everybody’s excited,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “But there’s also a reality in this business. You’re not going to win every day. You play in a great conference and you play a great team like UCLA and you’re going to have some tough nights. The key is how do you respond?"
Arizona, now 16-2 overall and 6-1 in the Pac-12, will get another shot at the Bruins (14-2, 6-1) on Feb. 3 at McKale after hosting ASU on Saturday. But there’s a lot of video to review first, and work to be done.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd talks following the UCLA loss on what went wrong for the Wildcats. Video courtesy Arizona Athletics.
Previously, the Wildcats hadn’t shot worse than the 40.6% they put up in a season opener against NAU and they hadn’t scored less than they did in a 77-73 loss at Tennessee on Dec. 22.
The Bruins made it hard on all the Wildcats, even Bennedict Mathurin, who managed 16 points and 10 rebounds but had to take 22 shots to get there. Point guard Kerr Kriisa didn’t make any of his 12 shots, missing nine 3-pointers, while Dalen Terry was 0 for 5.
"It was an off-night for us, and we just needed to adjust," Mathurin said. "I missed a lot of shots. I could've been better, and I'm going to be better the next game."
Nobody had it rougher than Kriisa, who missed all five shots he took in the first half and all seven he took in the second. He also had four turnovers to his six assists.
“Kerr is a tough kid and he didn’t play well today,” Lloyd said. “When you’re a good, aggressive player, you’re going to have nights like that. And he wasn’t the only one. We’re definitely not going to pin anything on him. He’s our guy and I know going forward he’s going to deliver. I’m confident of that.”
Unable to find their usual pass-happy, uptempo rhythm for most of the game, the Wildcats went just 23 of 75 overall from the field. While they did manage to outrebound UCLA 49-34, all those missed shots skewed that stat somewhat -- UA collected 24 offensive rebounds off those 52 misses.
Arizona Wildcats wing Bennedict Mathurin addresses his struggles against the Bruins and how UCLA took advantage of UA's missed shots. Video courtesy Arizona Athletics.
“The three things that (Arizona is) great at – running the floor, rebounding, and their defensive denial –weren’t factors tonight,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said.
On the other side of the court, UCLA had four players in double figures, with Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard each collecting 15. That fired up what was their first home crowd since Dec. 1, thanks to the Bruins’ COVID pause over much of December and UCLA’s early January ban on fans at indoor events.
“Obviously, fans back helped, but I really think it was our players’ excitement to play against a great team like Arizona,” Cronin said. “And they are a great team. Nobody’s held them to 59 points or even close all season. But effort matters. Our effort was awesome.”
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis came off the bench eight minutes into the game after spraining his ankle five days earlier. He collected eight points and five rebounds while sparking the Wildcats’ offense at times, or at least keeping things from getting worse for Arizona.
Lloyd started guard Pelle Larsson in Tubelis' place, saying he did so not so much because of the matchup against UCLA's smaller lineup but because Tubelis had been out of action since last Thursday. For the first time, Lloyd indicated that the left ankle sprain Tubelis suffered against Stanford was a significant injury.
"Zu hadn't done anything since Thursday and I didn't know how he was gonna be, so I didn't want to put a ton of pressure on him to start the game," Lloyd said. "I mean, he had a real injury. Our trainer Justin Kokoskie did a great job getting him ready and for him to give it effort and play decently, I'm proud of him. It shows a lot about his character."
Arizona guard Justin Kier, left, shoots as UCLA center Myles Johnson defends during Tuesday'sfirst half.
Lloyd turned to Tubelis just as the Wildcats were cooling off from a hot shooting start. Both teams shot almost perfectly throughout the first five minutes, with UCLA having made 6 of 8 from the field and UA 6 of 7 through the first five minutes.
Arizona even made its first four 3-pointers, but just 3 of 24 afterward while the Bruins’ defense kicked in.
“I thought our effort defensively to disrupt them from what they’re good at” was key, Cronin said. “If you let them get comfortable, they just destroy teams offensively.”
The Wildcats took a 16-12 lead on a dunk from Koloko, but UCLA then went on a 12-0 run highlighted by two 3-pointers from Juzang. During that stretch, Lloyd inserted Tubelis, who made a layup with 8:48 left in the half to cut UCLA’s lead to 26-20.
But the Wildcats went scoreless for more than four minutes from there. UCLA freshman forward Peyton Watson hit a 3-pointer to give the Bruins their first double-digit lead, 32-22, with 4:05 left and UCLA expanded its lead to 40-29 at halftime.
“He changed the game in the first half,” Cronin said of Watson, a McDonalds All-American out of nearby Long Beach Poly High School who drew heavy recruiting attention from Arizona.
Watson also pretty much sent the Wildcats home in the second half.
After Tubelis missed a layup with 10:13 left and UCLA leading 61-49, Justin Kier rebounded the ball and tried to put it back before Watson demonstratively swatted it away. The UCLA freshmen then stared down the Wildcats’ super senior and before long, thanks in part to 3-pointers from Jules Bernard and David Singleton, the Bruins held a 69-53 lead with 5:07 left.
Combined with the mismatches the Bruins’ bigger players created, it was too much for the Wildcats to overcome the rest of the way.
“They do a great job of picking matchups,” Lloyd said. “They’re comfortable isolating, and if you isolate guys at this level and surround them with good shooters, it’s sometimes hard.
“We knew they were going to try to pick on some matchups, and it worked out for them. We’ll see how it works out next time.”
