TUCSON, Ariz. — UCLA did everything it could.
The Bruins held the Arizona Wildcats scoreless for first 6:05 of game. They battled through four players dealing with serious foul trouble.
They erased a 14-point halftime deficit in under six minutes. They held the Wildcats’ top three scorers to just 15 combined points.
UCLA made the No. 7 team in nation and top team in Pac-12 uncomfortable all night.
It just wasn’t enough.
Despite forcing Arizona (24-3, 12-2 Pac-12) into uncharacteristic struggles all game and exploding out of halftime with a 17-0 run to take the lead, UCLA (16-12, 8-7) just couldn’t do enough offensively to pull off the upset, losing at Arizona 57-47 Saturday night.
“If you had told me at the beginning of the night that we would hold a team like this to 57 points, I would have taken it for sure,” said sophomore guard Bryce Alford. “Just couldn’t get it done on the offensive end.”
Facing its highest-rated opponent since No. 1 Kentucky in December, UCLA’s start against Arizona Saturday quickly brought back memories of its lengthy scoring drought against Kentucky in which UCLA missed its first 17 shots.
This time, however, the Bruins were on the right side of the early struggles.
UCLA built an early 7-0 lead, forcing four turnovers and eight straight missed shots in the process. The Bruins looked primed to topple the Pac-12’s top team and greatly improve their chances at earning an NCAA tournament bid.
But rather than put the Wildcats to rest, it seemed the Bruins only woke a sleeping giant.
The Wildcats got their first points of the game at the 13:55 mark off a pair of free throws from freshman center Dusan Ristic and quickly followed with another 11 points over the next 4:24 to claim a 13-10 lead.
Arizona’s resurgence was buoyed by UCLA’s foul troubles early on. Junior forward/center Tony Parker and freshman forward Gyorgy Goloman each picked up three fouls in the first half, while senior guard Norman Powell and freshman forward Kevon Looney were also called for two fouls apiece.
“It’s really tough. Guys are playing positions that they’re not normally playing, (sophomore guard Noah Allen) went to the four, having to guard a 6-10 dude,” said Powell. “It hurts our rebounding, hurts what we want to do on offense.”
Arizona made the most of UCLA’s frontcourt foul trouble, outrebounding the Bruins 8-1 over the final 4:17 of the first half, while also outscoring them 12-2. The Wildcats’ offensive explosion came from unexpected sources, however. UCLA succeeded in shutting down Arizona’s starters – who double as their top five scorers – holding them to a combined eight first-half points.
Instead, it was Arizona’s bench landing the blows. Ristic scored 12 points in the opening period and junior guard Gabe York added another 10, hitting a pair of corner 3-pointers to swing momentum the Wildcats’ way.
The Bruins, meanwhile, soon found themselves mired in an offensive slump of their own. From the 13-13 tie with nine minutes remaining in the first half, UCLA fell victim to a 19-5 Arizona run lasting until halftime, when the Wildcats led 32-18.
UCLA’s only offense came from Alford, who had 11 points on 4-7 shooting in the first half. The rest of the Bruins combined for seven points on 1-13 shooting during the half.
Despite all of that, the Bruins weren’t out of the game.
UCLA’s start to the second half eerily mirrored the first half. The Bruins burst out of halftime with a 17-0 run in the first 6:34 to take a 35-32 lead. This time, Alford got some help, as Looney hit a pair of 3-pointers and a foot-on-the-line jumper, while Powell converted on two baskets as well.
“That’s our message before every game and before every second half is to come out and try to punch first,” Alford said.
After 6:51 had elapsed in the second half, Arizona finally found its first points of the period, and eventually reclaimed a 40-39 lead a few minutes later. UCLA found itself mired in the same issues that plagued the team in the middle of the first half, going scoreless for over four minutes.
When Parker and freshman center Thomas Welsh fouled out of the game with 4:44 remaining and the Wildcats leading 49-43, things looked bleak for the Bruins.
When Looney fouled out 82 seconds later, it was over.
“We did a tremendous job of battling back,” said coach Steve Alford. “The last four, five minutes, (the Wildcats) showed their championship form.”
Almost exactly like the end of the first half, Arizona went on a 13-4 run to secure the victory.
While Steve Alford admitted there are no moral victories, the way in which UCLA battled back and flummoxed Arizona’s star players all game was still seen as a sign of growth.
“It just shows how much heart, how much determination this team has with all the adversity to keep working, keep pushing and never giving up,” Powell said.