UCLA Decides to Win, Beats Arizona State 74-62
The Bruins were in a dogfight up until the moment they decided not to be.
I think there was a question in the back of many UCLA fans’ minds throughout this current win streak on whether this UCLA team was truly legit or not. Yes, they’ve won 13 straight games going into this one, but you look back and you wonder about the quality of their opponents throughout the run; seriously, it’s a toss-up between Southern Cal and a flailing Kentucky on who the best team they’ve beaten has been. So this turned into something of a referendum road trip for the Bruins, playing two of the best teams in the conference on the road in front of some rabid environments. The first game against Arizona State was a defacto battle for first place, with the Sun Devils only having one loss on the season, and for much of the game, the Bruins found themselves in a real fight.
And then they decided they were done going blow-for-blow with Arizona State, and beat them by double-digits, ultimately winning 74-62.
Consider many questions about this team answered. UCLA won a huge game on the road despite not having the best of performances from some of the members of their Big Three. Jaime Jaquez had a nightmare game on the offensive game, finishing with nine points on 4-12 shooting, including 0-2 from the free-throw line, and for most of the game, he could not buy a basket. Jaylen Clark similarly struggled from the field, going 3-9 from the field but at least doing a better job of drawing fouls and getting points at the foul line. And let’s not leave Adem Bona’s performance out of this - Bona struggled in a way we haven’t seen in a month.
They even took Arizona State’s best shot offensively. Arizona State has not been a good outside shooting team this year but hit 40.9% of their three-point attempts, including a bonkers buzzer-beating heave at the half that really made it seem like everything was going to go ASU’s way. Even in the second half, when UCLA started turning up the defensive pressure, Arizona State still kept punching back, going on mini-runs to keep frustrating Bruin fans. With 6:13 to go in the game, Frankie Collins hit a three to put the Sun Devils up two, and it really got the feel of a game that was going to come down to the last shot.
And again, none of it mattered because UCLA simply decided they were going to win.
Credit to Tyger Campbell and David Singleton for carrying the load throughout the game to keep the Bruins in it. Campbell was unreal in this game, hitting a bevy of floaters and drawing plenty of fouls to finish with a game-high 22 points while playing solid defense. Singleton finally saw the lid come off the basket and hit big shot after big shot in this game, finishing with 21 points on 7-10 shooting from the field, including 4-6 from distance. And credit the UCLA defense for continually making stops to prevent the Sun Devils from running out a bigger lead - for his offensive issues, Jaylen Clark played 39 minutes because of his stellar defense. The Bruins also got some timely scoring from Dylan Andrews, who put up some solid minutes in a big spot.
But seriously, I keep saying UCLA decided they were going to win the game because that’s what happened. UCLA went on a 16-2 run to end this game, and from a certain point in those last five minutes, it became clear to everyone both on the court and off it that the Bruins were going to win. That UCLA managed to win by double-digits speaks to a winning mindset that the Bruins possess, and I think the final shot of this game speaks so much to this team, as Bona decided not to give up a gimmie layup in the final seconds to preserve a 12-point win, standing over the Sun Devil guard in the process.
This UCLA team is officially legit. Now to see how high they can climb.
Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 22 points. Jaime Jaquez led the team with five assists, while Jaylen Clark led the team with eight rebounds. Desmond Cambridge led the Sun Devils with 15 points.
Three Takeaways
Player of the Game: Tyger Campbell - Jaime Jaquez was off. Jaylen Clark was off. Tyger Campbell carried the load anyway. His 22 points on 7-11 shooting were huge and combined with David Singleton to push UCLA through the struggles of everyone else. When UCLA has multiple guys working, they are tough to start.
Coffee is for Closers - Arizona State did not score a point over the final 3:36 of the game. UCLA went on a 16-2 run to finish this game. The UCLA offense also fully unleashed during this stretch, hitting four of their last five shots to end the game. That is the definition of closing.
The Ghost of Remy Martin Still Prowls These Halls - I swear, the Sun Devils took turns being inhabited by the ghost of Remy Martin throughout this game. I’ve watched a decent amount of Arizona State basketball this year, and I think they have a case for being the second-best team in the conference, but this was an out-of-body experience for some of the Sun Devil players. Still, UCLA took their best shot and came away with a solid win on the road. That’s huge.
The big conference rivalry game is next. UCLA will walk into a hostile McKale Center on Saturday to take on Arizona. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:00 AM PT.
Go Bruins!
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Great win for the Bruins. It really did seem like ASU was playing way over their heads last night. Tyger Campbell's game was his best ever. I want to personally thank the camera operators who spared me the shots of Bobby Hurley screaming, yelling, red-faced on the sideline. Adem Bona's swatting the layup at the end of regulation was great, so great that we rewound it multiple times.
Great win!
This game worried me the most on the schedule bc of how ucla played, but we took their best shot while our guys struggled offensively and was only down 5 at the half so I was feeling pretty good, and sure enough, we came back.
AZ is a good team but they’re like a less athletic and talented version of Kentucky, but with a better coach in Tommy Lloyd, so they’re dangerous. They can beat us if guys like Kriisa, a poor man’s Bryce Alford, catches fire at the 3-point line, but our perimeter defense has significantly improved since our two losses so definitely feeling good going into tmrw. I’m hoping the Bruins show up with effort and defensive intensity following yesterdays big win, don’t want to see us beating ourselves!