PHOENIX – Considering that a 13-point lead over UCLA can translate to a much bigger one against a faster-paced team, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd had reason to feel OK midway through the second half of UA’s 57-54 loss Saturday.
The Bruins, who had averaged just 65.8 points in their past five games against Arizona, trailed the Wildcats 49-36 with 10:49 to go at the Footprint Center.
Insurance appeared a good idea, but maybe not mandatory.
“It felt like how we wanted it to feel,” Lloyd said. “I looked up at the clock and knew there was a lot of time left and I’m hoping we can make another little run so maybe we have a little more of a buffer to sustain a comeback from them.”
Instead, the Wildcats collapsed. There was no buffer and no protection of that lead. Arizona scored only five points the rest of the way and didn’t hit a single field goal in the final 8:46 in what became a three-point loss.
How was that possible? Among the many reasons:
They needed timeouts to avoid even more turnovers.The biggest stat in the game was probably that Arizona had 22 turnovers that led to 27 UCLA points and Lloyd said a pair of timeouts his players called in scramble situations were “quasi-turnovers.”
That left the Wildcats with just one timeout over that final 8:46 stretch, when UCLA outscored Arizona 17-3.
Lloyd didn’t use that final timeout until seven seconds remained and UCLA’s Skyy Clark was going to the line to protect the Bruins’ 55-54 lead.
“I was just trying to see if we could save it and have it down the stretch,” Lloyd said. “We used it to ice a free throw shooter and it was an end-of-the-game situation. So I don’t think it was a wasted situation. He made the free throws. We set up a play to try to get a 3 when we thought they were going to foul and we got up a look.”
That look was a 3-point attempt from KJ Lewis that was well off to the right side of the basket and a UCLA rebound sealed it.
They forced up too many prayers.
With UCLA preventing the layers of ball movement Arizona often uses to create good looks to shoot from, the Wildcats missed all seven field goals they tried over the final 8:46. That included four 3-pointers – two from 7-footer Henri Veesaar, one from Caleb Love and the final try from Lewis.
“It was more of a direct-attack type game,” Lloyd said. “That worked for stretches and then it kind of went away from us at the end. I think we got a little tired, maybe, down the stretch.
“We took a few 3s that last three or four minutes that if they make it, they look great, by the way. … it just felt like we were hoping one of those 3s would go in rather than having a little more conviction on how we’re going to put points up on the board.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) and guard Kobe Johnson (0) put high pressure on Arizona forward Henri Veesaar (13) during the game at the Footprint Center, Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 14, 2024.
Love wasn’t a go-to. Again.
Love’s missed 3 with 3:21 left was actually only one of six misses out of his seven 3-point attempts during the game. He had just seven points on 3-for-10 overall shooting to continue what has pretty much been a season-long slump.
Over nine games so far, Love is leading the Wildcats in scoring with an average of 13.3 points but is shooting only 36.6% overall and 27.9% from 3-point range. Last season, Love averaged 18.0 points while shooting 41.3% overall and 33.2% from 3.
“Caleb gives us a really high ceiling and teams have been playing him well,” Lloyd said. “This hasn’t come easy for him, either. We’ve got to figure out why. What can we do to help him? Is it just hanging with it, hanging with it, hanging with it, supporting him and then it’s going to figure itself out? Or are there tactical things we need to do different?”
A nightmare character reappeared.
If there was any more painful memory for the Wildcats in their 83-80 upset loss at Oregon State last season besides the game-winning 3 that Jordan Pope threw in at the buzzer, it was the 22 points that then-Beaver big man Tyler Bilodeau scored – including the 3 of 4 3-pointers he made with barely a defender in sight.
This time, in a baby-blue UCLA uniform, Bilodeau burned the Wildcats from inside the arc in the final nine minutes. He had layups with 8:18 and 6:29 to go, a jumper with 5:39 left and a hook with 1:42 left that gave UCLA a 55-52 lead that proved to be ball the Bruins needed.
UCLA Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) shoot the ball over Arizona Wildcats forward Henri Veesaar (13) during the second half of the game at the Footprint Center, Dec. 14, 2024.
Held to just five points in the first half, Bilodeau finished with 17. UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he talked to the Bruins about getting him the ball more, instead of them taking an ill-advised shot, which he said even Bilodeau did once.
“That was a big key, once we did it,” Cronin said. “You’ve got to get him the ball. We’ve got to try to run offense and when you have a guy that can get something easy … that’s who you should get it to, instead of (making) a dribble routine to a hard shot.”
The warnings didn’t help.
The Wildcats knew all about UCLA’s defense and the fact that the Bruins had the nation’s best defensive turnover ratio entering the game.
UCLA’s first nine opponents turned the ball over on 27.0% of their possessions.
On Saturday, Arizona turned it over on 35.4% of its possessions.
“Our defense picked up and we were able to start creating some turnovers,” Cronin said. “That was the difference in the game.”
Overall, it was a long nine minutes that will look even longer when Lloyd and his staff review it on video.
“I’m sure I’m going to go back and look at that thing and there’s going to be some coaching miscues, there’s going to be some situations,” Lloyd said. “I wish the players were just a little bit tougher, but all in all, I think the most important thing is and I know this is a cliché, but we gotta hang together.
“We gotta hang together because it’s tough. We can’t splinter.”
