This is the game we’ve all been waiting all season for: the Pac-12 Tournament Final. Tonight’s game features the 2nd-seeded UCLA Bruins against the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats.
After receiving the top seed in the tournament due to an 18-2 regular season conference record, the Wildcats played Stanford in the quarterfinals on Thursday and the Cardinal almost knocked them off. With 3:25 left in the game, James O’Keefe put the Cardinal on top, 75-74, with a pair of free throws. Just eight seconds later, a dunk by Bennedict Mathurin put the Wildcats up for good. Arizona went on to survive 84-80 in a game that was closer than it probably should have been.
Despite Tad Boyle’s claims of media bias against his Buffaloes, last night’s game between Colorado and Arizona wasn’t nearly as close as the Wildcats’ game against Stanford. The Buffs’ last lead of the game came with almost ten minutes left in the first half when they led by a score of 24-22. To the Buffs’ credit, they were able to cut Arizona’s lead to just a point three different times in the second half, but they just couldn’t ever take a lead in the second half. As a result, the Wildcats cruised to an 82-72 final to advance to tonight’s game against the Bruins.
Meanwhile, in the second semifinal, UCLA took the lead for good with about 13 minutes left in the first half as they manhandled Southern Cal, 69-59. The Bruins relied primarily on the starters last night as those five guys accounted for 62 of their 69 points. Only Peyton Watson, who added five points, and Cody Riley, who contributed a bucket, scored off the bench. Also, four of the five starters for UCLA scored in double figures.
Not surprisingly, Jaime Jaquez, Jr. led UCLA with 19 points. Jules Bernard and Tyger Campbell added 15 and 14 points, respectively. And, Johnny Juzang showed some signs of being healthy by scoring ten.
The outlook for tonight’s game is anybody’s guess. Each team won at home. Arizona has won their last five games and 14 of their last 15 games since they met in Westwood. Of course, UCLA has won their last five games as well and 9 of their last 11 since the Bruins were swept on their Arizona road trip. Tonight’s game should be an epic game between these two programs.
Listen to the Game With TMB!
TuneIn.com now has UCLA’s games listed as “premium” content. So, rather than using TuneIn, you can just listen through the official website like we have done with the small sports for a long time in order to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray call tonight’s game. Tonight’s game is on Fox. As a result, Joe Davis and Casey Jacobsen have the call again tonight. So, if you don’t want listen to them on TV again and want to listen to Lewin and Murray, just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
In the meantime, here’s how to watch tonight’s game:
This is your Pac-12 Tournament Finals game thread.
2022 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Finals
Teams: 2-seed UCLA Bruins (25-6) vs. 1-seed Arizona Wildcats (30-3)
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What happened to ANY inside game. Trying win from distance is a flawed strategy. Not a good enough shooting % to rely on that. Really disappointed in the offensive sets. Had it in first half and 80% of shots in 2nd are from 20’+. LED to 20-5 run. Poor execution
Maybe the problem is their 2 7 footers and a 3rd guy at 6’10 blocking and altering our shots. There’s a reason Koloko was defensive player of the year.
U !
C!
L
A!
Fight, fight, fight!
Good Myles starting again. Need that D
Juze!
Tygrr forced it!
Watson In early
Yeah weird lineup, it was Cody and Watson for Myles and jules
This is a tough team to defend.
C'mon, Jaime!
We seem tight.
Yep, it does.
Grrr!
Watson causing Arizona problems with his defense
And rebounding!
Good toughness so far, looking good
Yep. We need some luck, to get our shots to drop.
We’re guarding Koloko really well but need to get in front of their guards! Allowing too many layups
Bruins overmatched physically but playing hard!
Juze!
Juze looks back to form
Cody, go figure!
How tall is Ballo? Look like AZ is playing 2 7-footers at once
They are large.
This is the most agitated I've seen us recently.
Julez!
Jacquez is passing up open shots for some reason
He’s got a lot of height and athleticism guarding him.
We need Jaime to get going. Why isn’t he posting up? AZ too big?
Big. Quick. They can jump and they are focused on stopping him.
Johnny looks fully back. Attacking and everything. Night and day from yesterday
Johnson needs to dunk it!
Probably the same result. Maybe draw the foul, though.
Yeah but can’t just try to lay it up against the biggest team in the conference. Better to put AZ in even more foul trouble
Grrrr!
Jaime sinks them both!
Let's go Bruuins!
Juze!
Johnny!
Yes!!
Unbelievable first half. We are totally outsized and out atheticised (fake word) and leading. Heart.
Juzang did that after playing the whole first half. Great effort
We will see more Nwuba tonight
Welps Myles picked up his 3rd foul like 10 seconds into the 2nd half.
Only consolation is AZ has a player with 4 fouls now
Definitely a flagrant
SPTRs taking forever. Pretty obvious.
That's why they took so long.
Arizona whines...a lot!
Neuba please
Johnson contesting that dunk was costly.
Yup. And he hit the foul shots anyway.
Julez, again!
What happened to ANY inside game. Trying win from distance is a flawed strategy. Not a good enough shooting % to rely on that. Really disappointed in the offensive sets. Had it in first half and 80% of shots in 2nd are from 20’+. LED to 20-5 run. Poor execution
Maybe the problem is their 2 7 footers and a 3rd guy at 6’10 blocking and altering our shots. There’s a reason Koloko was defensive player of the year.
AZ has 3 guys above 6’10 playing at the same time for a good portion of the game. Not to mention foul trouble for Cody and Myles.
Their PG in this game rn Larson is 6’5, half a foot taller than Tyger
Everything is going against us now. That’s when we shine!
Let's go Bruins!
Mick did NOT like that shot
Sheet!
Myles away!
Sheet, we ain't got this one.
Can't buy a stop right now.
Story of the game is Myles and Cody both getting their 4th fouls early in the 2nd half
AZ scored on 8 straight possessions and mostly layups. That’s the entire defense problem
Not really.
Foul trouble has softened our defense. Giving up easy baskets.
AZ is really good and we are hanging with them. Need a few stops now!
That Jaime turnaround is automatic