LAS VEGAS — After all the taunts from the Arizona fans, the repeated “U of A!” chants that filled an arena awash in red and white, UCLA wanted the final say.
The Bruins looked like they might get it early in the second half of the Pac-12 tournament championship. Their shots were falling and they matched the Wildcats’ toughness while not letting their size disadvantage bother them. When UCLA’s Johnny Juzang buried a three-pointer, extending his team’s lead to 12 points, what amounted to a home crowd for the Wildcats was silenced.
The decibel level then rose, slowly at first, before building to a crescendo with a flurry of Arizona layups and three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Bruins went cold and their primary two big men couldn’t do much to stop the avalanche of points they were giving up while stuck on the bench in foul trouble.
