Saturday, February 10, 2018

UCLA Stuns No. 13 Arizona on the Road, 82-74








feb 08, 2018 | UCLA MEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE | POST LINK


TUCSON, Ariz. – Aaron Holiday scored a team-leading 17 points and Gyorgy Goloman had 16 points as the UCLA men's basketball team won at No. 13 Arizona, 82-74, on Thursday night.

Kris Wilkes finished with 14 points, while Jaylen Hands and Thomas Welsh each totaled 11 points before a capacity crowd at Arizona's McKale Center.

UCLA (17-7, 8-4 Pac-12) handed Arizona (19-6, 9-3) its fifth loss at home since the start of the 2012-13 season (93-5 home record). The Bruins have picked up three of those five victories at the McKale Center over the past six seasons.

Thursday's game also marked Arizona's first home loss versus an unranked opponent since losing to California at the McKale Center on Feb. 10, 2013.

Goloman finished with a career-best 16 points on Thursday after having made a career-leading three three-pointers. The senior from Kormend, Hungary, hit a three-pointer with 6:10 to play, helping UCLA push its lead to 72-60. His ensuing three-pointer at the 1:43 mark gave the Bruins a comfortable 82-67 advantage.

Welsh logged his team-leading 14th double-double of the year, recording 11 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes. Welsh made 5 of 9 shots from the field.

After a back-and-forth first half, UCLA entered the locker room at halftime with a 44-34 cushion.

Leading 48-40 early in the second half, Arizona trimmed the Bruins' margin to 48-44 before UCLA used an 8-0 scoring run to push its lead to 12 points (56-44). Wilkes scored five consecutive points during that 8-0 scoring run.

UCLA secured its largest lead of the game – 15 points (66-51) – with 9:17 remaining in the second half after Welsh's dunk helped the Bruins cap a 6-0 run.

From that point in the contest, UCLA never trailed. Arizona never cut its deficit to any fewer than nine points.

Arizona led UCLA, 29-27, with 3:14 left in the first half before the Bruins closed the opening half with a 17-5 scoring run. Hands sank three consecutive three-pointers in the final minute of the half, including a three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer.

UCLA opened the game strong on Thursday night, as Holiday and Wilkes combined for eight of the Bruins' first 10 points. UCLA led 10-3 less than seven minutes into the game.

Overall, UCLA shot 52 percent from the field (32-of-62) and made 46 percent of its three-point attempts (11-of-24). Arizona shot 44 percent from the floor (29-of-66) and finished 36 percent from three-point range (8-for-22).

The Bruins will continue their two-game swing through the state of Arizona with a Pac-12 matchup this Saturday at Arizona State. Game time at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena is 4 p.m. PT (5 p.m. MT). The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

The Box


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