ETHAN MILLER, GETTY IMAGES
LAS VEGAS — Back and forth they went, the conference’s two best teams in all-out battle. Bodies hit the floor, sweat flew into the air in beads, elbows were thrown.
Almost three full minutes went by without a score, with both Arizona and UCLA fully aware that this was the final stand – the Pac-12’s two best teams fighting with all they had, scratching and clawing to keep the other from firing that final deciding shot.
And with 45 seconds remaining, Jordan Adams saw Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Johnson shade toward Kyle Anderson, who had brought the ball up the court. Adams set his feet, and Anderson delivered the pass to him behind the arc. This was it, they both thought. Adams pulled the trigger.
Adams fell backwards wildly, staring intently at the rim as the shot hung in the air and the rest of the world faded away. The Arizona-heavy crowd fell silent.
It swished, and Adams sat up firing his fist into the air. Twenty minutes later, with a 75-71 victory in tow, the two sophomores raised the Pac-12 championship trophy into the air as confetti fell down by the pound. They had led UCLA into a skirmish Saturday, had come out bruised and battered, but had a Pac-12 Tournament title in hand – the Bruins’ first since 2008.
It came on the shoulders of those who had carried them there in the first place. Anderson, the heart and soul of this UCLA team, scored 21 points and added 15 rebounds and five assists. Adams contributed 19 points, including the biggest three of his UCLA career.
“These two men have done an awful lot,” first-year coach Steve Alford said at the podium, flanked by his two sophomore stars. “They’ve had a lot of pressure on them, and they’ve responded in a big way.”
For Adams, especially, that final shot had been months in the making, just as this matchup had seemed destined for the conference’s grandest stage, ever since the Wildcats finished off the Bruins in a wild fight back in January. Then, Adams had missed his decisive chance.
“I missed that shot in and out, and that shot haunted me,” Adams said. “I always told myself, if I got another chance, I would knock it down.”
Fifty seconds remained when Alford called his final timeout. He smiled confidently in the huddle. His players smiled back. He called the play for Adams. This was how it was always meant to finish.
“I’ve been watching Jordan shoot the ball since he was 11 years old,” Anderson said. “When I saw him get his feet set, I knew it was going in.”
With it came the statement victory that UCLA had been searching for desperately. Alford’s first season brought a sea of decent wins and passable losses, but this had meant something more. It was a sign, just before the NCAA Tournament, that UCLA had the fight necessary to win in March.
It did so against the nation’s top defense, a No. 1 seed that has spent all season on top. In its first two games of the conference tournament, Arizona’s top-rated defense gave up an average of just 41 points. By the half, UCLA had 43.
After that first-half blitzkrieg, it would be a tussle unlike the Bruins have seen all season – each question met with an answer, each strike met with a counter. Neither team would budge, knowing full well that the slightest slip might be its downfall.
“Defense really kicked in,” Travis Wear said. “Nobody gave up a bucket. Guys are scratching, clawing, punching – doing whatever they could.”
With just under three minutes remaining, Adams tipped the ball out of Johnson’s hands, and it bounced loosely down the floor, both of them falling as they reached out for it. Wear started sprinting, alongside Arizona’s Aaron Gordon. Wear dove, wrapping his arms around the ball, and called a timeout.
From there, it was one final strike that would settle it, one final pull of the trigger from Adams and Anderson. Then, with only missed free throws left to save Arizona, the Bruins – fearless as they’ve ever been – finished off the Wildcats
“We’ve proved to the country we can win games like this,” Anderson said. “Not only can we play with anybody, we can beat a lot of teams too.”
As he stood at center court with his teammates, someone put a flag on Anderson’s back. He beat his chest twice.
In all-out battle, UCLA had come out alive, bruised and tired, but better than ever.
Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com
No comments:
Post a Comment