Bruins have zero answers against Ayton
Big man takes over in career night, Wildcats return to title game of Pac-12 tournament.
LAS VEGAS — Deandre Ayton was nervous in his first Pac-12 tournament game, awed by the size of the arena and the spotlight.
More comfortable and familiar with his surroundings, the Bahamian big man dominated his second goround, sending the Wildcats into the title game for the second straight season.
Ayton scored seven of his 32 points in overtime and grabbed 14 rebounds, lifting No. 15 Arizona to a 78-67 victory over UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals on Friday night.
“I had some butterflies the first game,” Ayton said. “The nervousness went away and it was just business after that.”
Ayton triggered a secondhalf resurgence after Arizona (26-7) labored offensively in the first half. UCLA (21-11) matched Arizona nearly shot for shot, tying the game at 67 on Jaylen Hands’ drive with eight seconds left. Teammate Aaron Holiday missed on a runner at the buzzer after an Arizona turnover.
Then Ayton took over. He scored 13 straight points at the end of regulation and into overtime and made 13 of 16 shots overall. He had 10 points on four-of-14 shooting in the quarterfinals against Colorado.
Behind Ayton’s massive performance and a defensive shutdown of UCLA in overtime, the Wildcats earned a chance to defend their Pac-12 tournament title against the Oregon-USC winner on Saturday.
“It gives our guys and our team a lot of confidence because if you can defend UCLA, I think you have an opportunity to defend some of the best offensive teams in this country,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said.
UCLA led 30-26 at halftime and answered every Arizona punch until overtime. The Bruins were no match for Ayton on defense and missed all seven of their shots — six three-pointers — to go scoreless in overtime.
“We were probably a little bit run down, but at the same token, they had three guys play 40-plus minutes as well,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said. “So that’s not an excuse. I thought they stepped things up in the overtime and we weren’t able to match that.”
Thomas Welsh led UCLA with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Holiday, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, had 15 points but sure had to work for it. Arizona crowded him along the perimeter and swarmed him on drives, holding Holiday to five-of-20 shooting and three of 12 from three-point range.
“I saw another guy either in the paint or in the gap every time I drove,” Holiday said. “So they did a great job on defense getting the ball out of my hands.”
UCLA has boosted its NCAA tournament hopes by winning eight of its past 11 games, including an 88-77 victory over Stanford in the Pac-12 quarterfinals. Holiday was superb in the win over the Cardinal with 34 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
The Bruins won the lone regular-season meeting against Arizona, handing the Wildcats their only home loss by shooting 52 percent in an 82-74 victory on Feb. 8.
Now UCLA will wait until Sunday to see if its resume is good enough to make the NCAA tournament.