UCLA looks to continue improvement vs. Arizona
LOS ANGELES — Arizona and UCLA are in their third seasons of the Kevin Sumlin and Chip Kelly eras, but going into Saturday’s game at the Rose Bowl, the two programs are trending in opposite directions.
The Wildcats (0-2) haven’t won in more than a year and have dropped a program-record nine consecutive games. Meanwhile, the Bruins (1-2) are finally showing signs of progress under Kelly by being competitive in all three games.
Arizona fell behind 37-0 to Washington before scoring 27 fourth-quarter points in a 4427 loss. UCLA had four turnovers at No. 11 Oregon that led to 28 points points by the Ducks in a 38-35 defeat.
“There’s a lot of really positive things going on, but it hasn’t shown on the scoreboard,” Kelly said. “We’re in every game that we’ve played so far. We feel like if we can clean up the self-inflicted wounds that we can continue to get better.”
Sumlin is 9-17 at Arizona, which is one win better than Kelly’s record at Westwood. While a win for the Bruins would buoy their chances of a bowl game, the Wildcats need a victory to take some pressure off their coach.
“There’s a lot of guys that played (this season) that have lost two games,” Sumlin said. “The losing streak, for me, is different. I’m the common
Zidek had 14, Jadé Smith 12 and Kene Chukwuka 10.
Bernard and Riley fouled out for the Bruins, while the Waves lost Edwards, Smith and Chukwuka.
“They’re hard to defend,” Cronin said. “Our first three halves this year, our defense wasn’t up to par and that’s on me. But we did what we had to do adjustment-wise at halftime and the guys stepped up their effort and energy.”
UCLA held Pepperdine to 30% shooting in the second half but couldn’t close out the Waves in the first 40 minutes.
“We just didn’t finish the game,” Cronin said. “We were playing small and we couldn’t get a rebound and they hit two 3s off second shots.”
Both teams had chances to win it in regulation after UCLA blew a six-point lead.
With the score tied at 70, Jaquez missed a 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left. After a review, the officials had the clock reset to 7.3 seconds. Pepperdine’s Darryl Polk Jr. turned the ball over under pressure from Riley, and UCLA then threw the ball out of bounds. Pepperdine’s Smith missed a tip-in at the buzzer.
Zidek, whose father, George, was on UCLA’s 1995 national championship team, made a jump hook with 1:06 left in the second overtime to give Pepperdine an 89-88 lead. Jaquez missed two free throws with 8.3 seconds left but rebounded his second miss, was fouled again and made the first of two free throws to tie it at 89.
Ross missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to bring on a third OT.
Ross became Pepperdine’s all-time leading scorer when he sank the second of three free throws with 15 seconds left in the first half to give him 1,787 points and move past Stacy Davis. Ross set the mark in 25 fewer games than Davis. It was the 100th consecutive start for Ross, who has 1,809 career points.
“You have to credit UCLA for making the plays at the end when we didn’t,” Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar said. “It’s too bad that we weren’t able to pull it out for a number of reasons, but it would have been good to enjoy a win like that while also celebrating Colbey Ross becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer.”
Those three free throws, which came when he was fouled by Jaquez while taking a 3-pointer, helped the Waves to 39-32 halftime lead. Ross had 12 points in the first half.