During Arizonaβs 66-54 win Saturday over California on Senior Day, Deandre Ayton showed why it was his last game in McKale Center, too.
A candidate for the NBA Draftβs No. 1 pick in June after he leaves Arizona as a freshman this spring, Ayton had 26 points and a season-high 20 rebounds to lead the Wildcats in a game when they had trouble putting away the last place team in the Pac-12.
The win gave Arizona its fourth outright Pac-12 title, and fifth overall, under UA coach Sean Miller. The Wildcats moved to 24-7 and 14-4 heading into a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game against either ASU or Colorado on Thursday in Las Vegas.
The Wildcats celebrated by running through the student section, a tradition MoMo Jones began when they won their first league title under Miller in 2010-11, and then cut down nets.
They also honored their four seniors -- Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Dusan Ristic, Keanu Pinder and Talbott Denny -- while Miller also introduced three others who are all leaving for professional basketball this spring: Ayton, Trier and Rawle Alkins.
The move was unprecedented at Arizona but Miller said "it's the right thing to do."Β
The Bears dropped to 8-23 and 2-16.
With his 21st double-double, Ayton is now just one double-double short of the alltime UA season record set by Al Fleming in 1974-75.
His 21 double-doubles are the most ever by a Pac-12 freshman in regular-season play and within two of Kevin Loveβs freshman make in 2007-08, when Love had four double-doubles in the postseason.
Ayton also broke the UA freshman scoring record of 592 set by Jerryd Bayless in 2007-08. Aytonβs 26 points meant he now has 616 with at least two more games to play.
But until the very end, and postgame Senior Day ceremonies, it wasn't always fun for the Wildcats on Saturday. Ristic and Allonzo Trier, in particular, had wildly uncharacteristic shooting nights, with Ristic going 1 for 9 and Trier 1 for 10.
Leading 38-35 at halftime, UA continued to struggle into the second half. The Wildcats missed 12 of their first 15 shots in the second half and the game was tied at 51 entering the final seven minutes.
Trier had a chance to give the Wildcats a five-point lead when he took an open 3-pointer in the left corner but it missed. He was 0 for 9 from the field at that point, including seven missed 3-pointers, and Arizona went into the final four minutes leading just 55-53 before pulling away at the end.
UA managed a 65-53 lead entering the final minute, and Miller inserted seldom-used senior Talbott Denny and redshirt junior Tyler Trillo, who participated in Senior Day ceremonies and will not return.
Denny was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws for what was his first point as a Wildcat, after growing up in Tucson as a fan and then playing at Lipscomb before transferring as a graduate in 2016.
Senior center Dusan Ristic also lit up the McKale Center crowd when he took off his jersey and revealed an undershirt that read "Thank You Arizona" on the front and "Dusan loves Tucson" on the back.Β
In the first half, Ayton had his 21st double-double already with 14 points and 11 rebounds before halftime while leading UA to a 38-35 halftime lead.
But the Wildcats were hardly able to romp over the last-place Bears because they allowed Cal to shot 50 percent from the field and score 26 points in the paint. Don Coleman hit a 3-pointer with just two seconds left in the half to bring Cal within three points at the halftime buzzer.
Justice Sueing led Cal with 10 points.
Arizona jumped out to a 10-2 lead by grabbing all of the first four rebounds but Cal rallied back to take a 17-16 lead when Darius McNeill hit a 3-pointer with 12:14 left. The Bears were 0-18 from 3-point range in an 84-53 loss at ASU on Thursday.
UA held just a 30-25 lead when Calβs Kingsley Okoroh scored inside but the Wildcats stretched it to 34-25 on a dunk from Ayton and two free throws from Jackson-Cartwright.
The Wildcats will next play either ASU or Colorado in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Las Vegas. ASU and Colorado will meet in an 8-9 first-round game on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Both games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
