Azuolas Tubelis scored 19 points with 14 rebounds and Oumar Ballo added 13 points with eight rebounds as No. 8 Arizona won its second consecutive Pac-12 Conference tournament title with a 61-59 victory Saturday over No. 2 UCLA at Las Vegas.
Courtney Ramey scored just three points for the Wildcats (28-6), but it was a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining to put Arizona on top for good.
Amari Bailey scored 19 points for UCLA (29-5) and Tyger Campbell added 16 as the Bruins failed to follow a Pac-12 regular-season title with the conference tournament championship. The Bruins have not won the Pac-12 tournament title since 2014.
Dylan Andrews missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have given UCLA the victory. UCLA missed each of its last four field-goal attempts and went 1-for-7 down the stretch.
The Bruins were not only without Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark (leg), but also Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Adem Bona (shoulder), depriving them of their top two defenders. They were further short-handed when Mac Etienne fouled out with 9:35 remaining and Kenneth Nwuba fouled out with 4:25 on the clock.
The Bruins went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to lead 43-35 with 16:17 remaining as Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored four points in the stretch. The UCLA advantage was as many as nine at 46-37 with 14:18 remaining after a 3-pointer from Bailey.
But a 13-2 run by the Wildcats, capped by a 3-pointer from Pelle Larsson, gave Arizona a 50-48 lead with nine minutes remaining. UCLA was up 58-56 with 2:52 left after a jumper from Bailey, but Arizona closed on a 5-1 run.
Jaquez, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, scored 13 points with 10 rebounds for UCLA. Larsson had 11 points for Arizona.
The Wildcats led by as many as five points in the first half, but it was the Bruins that held a 34-33 lead at the break by holding Arizona to 39.3 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes and holding a 20-15 rebounding advantage.
The Bruins received yet another injury scare just over four minutes into the contest when Jaquez rolled his right ankle and limped to the bench during a timeout, but he remained in the game.
–Field Level Media
