Trailing by up to 19 points early, Arizona Wildcats come back to beat UCLA 77-71 at McKale

McKale Center was blowing up again Saturday, and it was easy to see why.

NBA players sat courtside for the second straight game, with Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle at center court for the first half before Arizona returned from a 19-point deficit to beat UCLA 77-71.

Former UA standout Benn Mathurin was inducted into the UA Ring of Honor at halftime, and Wildcat football players spilled onto the McKale floor during a timeout, a sense of anticipation about their return under new coach Brent Brennan drawing the sellout crowd to its feet.

Also, it might be noted, there were the Bruins. Those baby-ish blue uniforms were making their final appearance at McKale in Pac-12 history, with UA off to the Big 12 and UCLA headed to the Big Ten after this season.

Sure, the Bruins entered the game just 8-10, but they are the Bruins, after all, and this time loaded with young talent that is beginning to turn a corner.

“The rivalry games, you throw everything out the window,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “They have good players and they have a great coach.”

It was all a lot to take in. And it wasn’t certain, during that first half and well into the second, that the Wildcats were exhaling all too well. They allowed UCLA to hit 6 of 9 3-pointers in the first half and shot 37.9% before halftime, trailing by up to 19 points before halftime.

Then, after cutting UCLA’s lead to just 38-27 at halftime, the Wildcats went down by up to 17 points in the second half.

If the atmosphere was a problem, Lloyd didn't want to hear it.

“Hopefully not,” he said. “I mean, we’ve got to be more mature than that. When you play at Arizona, you're going to be on the big stage and you can't be bothered by that. So I'm not going to account for that.”

But, whatever the case, the McKale magic wasn’t happening. Maybe sensing the potential disappointment of losing to UCLA, which would have been UA’s fifth loss in its past 10 games, McKale fans grew much louder in the second half, as uneven as it initially looked.

“We weren't giving them a lot to cheer about,” Lloyd said. “Then they hung with us and got us through it. Thank goodness we played (UCLA) on this day at home because if that's anywhere else, we're probably not getting that outcome.”

UA pulled through by shooting 48.0% in the second half and limiting UCLA to 34.4% overall and just 17.6% from 3 after halftime. That nearly reversed the drastic difference between the two teams in the first half, when the Bruins took advantage of Arizona’s decision to back off some perimeter shots by hitting 6 of 9 3s.

UCLA entered the game with the 32nd worst 3-point shooting percentage in Division I, just 29.4%, but hit two-thirds of them before halftime and 34.6% for the game.

So Lloyd instead opted to try to make life miserable for standout center Adem Bona, even going under Bruin screens that gave UCLA guard Sebastian Mack some open looks — because Mack entered the game shooting 23.8% from 3 and is an effective driver who gets to the free-throw line more often than any Arizona player.

In other words, UA played the odds, and it backfired.

“They have not been a good 3-point shooting team,” Lloyd said. “I'm sure some of those guys are better shooters than their percentages but we were gonna game plan against them like everyone else has — you're gonna kind of pack it in and give Bona a lot of attention.”

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“And they came out playing free and easy early in the game. They really put themselves in position to win that game.”

UCLA ultimately did not because the Wildcats, eventually, started doing their thing. Trailing 45-28 with 15:58 left in the game, Arizona went on runs of 12-5 and 12-3 to pull within three, 55-52, entering the final eight minutes.

Sophomore point guard Kylan Boswell engineered the highlight of the 12-3 run when he picked off a long pass from UCLA guard Dylan Andrews and, after Arizona set up its offense, spotted up on the left wing to sink a 3-pointer that pulled UA within 55-50.

Boswell had missed all five shots he took before that one, but his body language did not suggest any lack of confidence.

“That was huge,” Lloyd said. “Right when it left his hand, I knew it was in. And you need some of those haymakers to get back in the game and get you over the top. I thought Kylan just settled in and just played.”

UA tied it up over two minutes later after Keshad Johnson flicked away a midrange shot attempt from UCLA's Lazar Stefanovic with the Bruins leading 60-56, and Larsson picked it up and drove inside. Larsson was fouled, and UCLA coach Mick Cronin was called for a technical foul, giving Larsson four free throws.

Larsson didn’t flinch, hitting all four and tying the game at 60.

“I’ve shot a couple free throws in this arena before,” Larsson said. “I felt pretty at home with the situation.”

The Wildcats, who took the lead for good after Oumar Ballo made a layup to put Arizona ahead 69-67 with 3:31 left, wound up taking 23 free throws in the second half and making 22 of them, essentially winning the game right there.

For the game, UA went 25 of 29 from the line, with Ballo breaking a free-throw shooting slump by hitting 7 of 8, while UCLA made 12 of just 14 attempts.

Larsson wound up hitting all eight free throws he took, finishing with a game-high 22 points, while Ballo had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Mack led UCLA with 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting.

The win moved Arizona to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-12, while UCLA dropped to 8-11 and 3-5 in the second-to-last regular season matchup between the longtime conference rivals in Pac-12 play.

Another final Pac-12 memory, recorded.

“I think everybody in this town knows that it's been a rivalry for a long time,” Larsson said. “We're just glad that we can honor the guys that came before us through this program with a win. It means means a lot to be able to do that for them.”

Photos: Arizona Wildcats defeat UCLA 77-71 in Tucson, Pac 12 basketball