ANAHEIM ““- Cut down to a seven-man rotation, UCLA was able to squeak out a 65-58 win over Arizona on Thursday night at Honda Center.
Already down one starter in sophomore center Joshua Smith, sidelined with a concussion, UCLA lost redshirt sophomore forward David Wear to his fifth foul with 5:07 left to play in the game holding on to a slim lead.
Weary and short on breath, the Bruins still managed to get stops down the stretch. Coming out of a timeout with the Wildcats inbounding down just five points, sophomore guard Tyler Lamb came up with one of his four steals before Arizona (10-5, 1-1 Pac-12) could even run a play. Senior guard Lazeric Jones then broke a long UCLA field-goal drought with a lefty layup off glass with 35 seconds to play to give the Bruins (8-7, 1-2) a six-point cushion.
Redshirt sophomore forward Travis Wear led the way with a career-high 20 points as he continually out-hustled the overmatched Wildcat frontcourt. Brother David had 15 before fouling out, while Jones had 13.
In beating its first opponent from one of the “Power Six” conferences this season, UCLA avoided its first 0-3 hole to start conference play since the 1987-88 season.