No. 5 Arizona tops UCLA, earns Pac-12 regular-season title
Mar 7, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Kylan Boswell (4) drives the ball against UCLA defenders during the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. credits: Yannick Peterhans-USA TODAY Sports KJ Lewis had a team-high 18 points off the bench — one of five Arizona players who scored in double figures — and the No. 5 Wildcats clinched the Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship on Thursday with their 88-65 rout of host UCLA in Los Angeles.
Arizona (24-6, 15-4 Pac-12) trailed for just 18 seconds early in the first half before runs of 12-2 and 17-6 sent the Wildcats into intermission with a 44-27 lead.
Arizona went 5 of 11 from 3-point range, 13 of 26 from the floor overall and 13 of 16 at the free-throw line in building its halftime advantage.
UCLA (14-16, 9-10) was unable to put up much resistance in the second half, as Arizona's lead ballooned to 28 points. Jaden Bradley finished with 13 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.
Caleb Love scored 17 points for Arizona, Pelle Larsson added 12 points and Kylan Boswell finished with 10 points and a game-high five assists. Keshad Johnson, who scored seven points, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
UCLA could not keep pace with Arizona, which shot 28 of 54 from the floor and 9 of 23 from beyond the arc. The Bruins went 23 of 59 from the floor, including 6 of 18 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Lazar Stefanovic, who scored a game-high 20 points, made all but one of the Bruins' 3-pointers, going 5 of 9. Dylan Andrews added 18 points and Adem Bona scored 10 points but shot just 4 of 13.
UCLA has lost five in a row. Arizona snapped a five-game skid at Pauley Pavilion.
Coupled with No. 18 Washington State's 74-68 home loss to Washington earlier on Thursday night, Arizona's win also clinched the outright conference championship. It is the 18th and final regular-season Pac-12 title for Arizona, which joins the Big 12 in 2024-25.
—Field Level Media