Kerr Kriisa, who missed all 12 of his field-goal attempts in a loss on Jan. 25 at UCLA, finished with a game-high 16 points in No. 7 Arizona’s 76-66 win Thursday over the No. 3 Bruins in a Pac-12 game at Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona (18-2, 8-1 Pac-12) avenged the 75-59 loss at UCLA and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Bruins. UCLA (16-3, 8-2) had won four straight games in Tucson dating to 2017.
Arizona’s Dalen Terry had 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists with only one turnover in 35 minutes.
Azuolas Tubelis added 14 points, Pelle Larsson finished with 12 points and Bennedict Mathurin had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Jules Bernard scored 15 points to lead UCLA, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Nine of Kriisa’s 12 misses last week were from 3-point range, and while he was 4 of 14 from the field and 3 of 10 from long range on Thursday, he hit a timely 3-pointer with 1:50 left.
The shot gave Arizona a 70-61 lead and snapped the team’s 0-for-6 field-goal stretch that lasted more than five minutes.
After Jaquez made a putback, Tyger Campbell was whistled for his fifth foul while defending Kriisa. Campbell finished with nine points and five assists.
Kriisa made two free throws with 1:09 left to give Arizona a 74-63 lead and effectively put the game out of reach.
In the first half, Kriisa made 3 of 6 shots from the field, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc, to lead Arizona with 11 points.
The Wildcats led 42-30 at halftime behind 60 percent shooting from the field. They finished at 48 percent in the game.
Arizona, which led by as many as 17 points in the first half, had its lead cut to 64-61 with 3:52 left following a 7-0 run by UCLA. David Singleton scored all five of his points during that stretch on a 3-pointer and a layup after a steal.
Arizona’s Christian Koloko, who had three blocked shots, made two free throws with 2:56 left before Kriisa made the pivotal 3-pointer.
Oumar Ballo had four blocked shots for the Wildcats.
–Field Level Media
