TEMPE, Ariz. “”mdash; Rihards Kuksiks’ 3-pointer found the bottom of the net with less than a second remaining, but it was too late for Arizona State.
The game ball proceeded to find its way to a fan sitting in the first row, but it didn’t remain there for long because it didn’t belong to the Sun Devil fan. It belonged to UCLA junior point guard Lazeric Jones.
Jones snatched the ball away from the fan and cradled it like a newborn in his left arm as he exchanged postgame handshakes with the Sun Devils.
Jones, the Bruins’ leading scorer for the 73-72 overtime win, appeared to be reborn Saturday.
“I thought Zeek really bounced back after a sub-par performance at Arizona,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
Sub-par is one way to put it. Jones was held scoreless Thursday night in the Bruins’ 85-74 loss to Arizona and was issued a technical foul after elbowing Arizona junior guard Kyle Fogg after the play was over.
Saturday, Jones was sinking birdie putts. He totaled 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting, eclipsing his scoring average by nearly seven points.
“My coaches just continued to tell me to stay up and stay confident, so I just wanted to come out and have a short-term memory and just go out and play,” Jones said of his mindset after the Arizona loss.
Nine of those 18 points came in a minute’s time late in the first half.
Jones sandwiched an acrobatic 3-point play with two 3-pointers, helping the Bruins extend the lead to a seemingly insurmountable 13 points at the half.
But Arizona State forced overtime by playing its signature swarming zone defense and forcing 14 UCLA turnovers.
“We weren’t being patient enough,” UCLA sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt said. “We let their zone and their press speed us up a little bit.”
But Jones wasn’t speeding up.
“I was just trying to come out and play my game today,” he said. “Last game, I was sped up and didn’t play the game that the coaching staff knew I could play. So today, I just wanted to come out calm and relaxed.”
Jones made the first shot of the overtime period, a 3-pointer that gave the Bruins a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I was feeling it a little bit. I was just testing it, and I got a good roll,” Jones said.
Lineup change
Howland opted for a smaller starting lineup Saturday against the Sun Devils, electing to bring junior guard Jerime Anderson into the lineup in place of redshirt freshman center Anthony Stover to match up better defensively. The Sun Devils’ tallest starter was 6-foot-7-inch Kyle Cain.
UCLA freshman center Joshua Smith played 21 minutes in Saturday’s game but did not see action in the overtime period. Howland did not make any substitutions in overtime, keeping with the starting five.
“I just felt like the guys who were in there were better for us defensively,” Howland said.