UCLA 74, Arizona 69
Shabazz Muhammad scored 18 points, Larry Drew II had 14 points and nine assists, and UCLA moved into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 after beating 11th-ranked Arizona 74-69 on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The game was played in front of a sold-out record crowd of 13,727 at renovated Pauley Pavilion.
Arizona, rallying from 11 down with 4:12 to go, forced UCLA into a shot-clock violation with 24 seconds left and the Bruins leading 72-69. Arizona point guard Mark Lyons spun into the lane for a jumper that missed, and Muhammad was fouled on the rebound.
He made both free throws with 9.5 seconds left for the final margin.
UCLA (22-7, 12-4) swept the season series from the Wildcats and is tied for first in the Pac-12 with Oregon.
Arizona (23-6, 11-6) has lost four of its past seven games and was swept on a road trip to the Los Angeles schools this week.
Kyle Anderson, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, also had seven rebounds for UCLA. Drew tied his season high with 14 points.
Freshman post player Grant Jerrett came off the bench to lead four Arizona players in double figures with 14 points.
UCLA led 40-36 at halftime and raced ahead with a 12-0 run early in the second half. The Bruins, fueled by their transition game, started the streak with a dunk by Muhammad and ended it with Muhammad's three-point play for a 52-38 lead with 15:25 to go. Arizona forward Solomon Hill picked up his fourth foul on the play.
The Wildcats rallied as Hill sat on the bench for nearly six minutes, cutting the lead to 59-53 on 3-pointers from Kevin Parrom and Nick Johnson on back-to-back possessions. UCLA pushed the lead back to 70-59 on Muhammad's free throw with 4:12 to go and then held on down the stretch.
Jerrett hit two late 3-pointers, including one with 1:10 to go, to cut the lead to 72-69.
UCLA, which took a 21-5 lead en route to an 84-73 win over Arizona in Tucson on Jan. 24, was on its way to a more modest fast start, leading 13-6 before the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run. Arizona freshman 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski tied the score with a layup with 12:03 to go in the half.
The Bruins quickly responded after a 30-second timeout with an alley-oop dunk by Travis Wear off a pass from his twin, David Wear. On the next possession, Norman Powell drove past Kevin Parrom for an emphatic one-handed jam.
UCLA pushed the lead to seven points twice again, but Hill tied the score at 29 with a driving dunk with 4:53 to go before halftime. Anderson then took the scoring load for UCLA, scoring nine consecutive points for the Bruins, a streak that ended when Drew drove for a layup with two seconds left and a 40-36 halftime lead.
Anderson scored 15 points in the half and Drew had six assists. Senior point guard Mark Lyons had 11 points in the first half for Arizona.
NOTES: UCLA had one only senior to honor on Senior Night -- Drew, a one-year transfer from North Carolina. He was second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.46 to 1) through Thursday's games. ... Travis Wear, who had missed the past two games because of a sprained right foot, was back in the starting lineup. ... Arizona finishes the regular season at home Saturday against Arizona State. ... Blake Griffin, Baron Davis and DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers were in attendance. Actor/comedian Garry Shandling, a University of Arizona alum who attended high school in Tucson, also was courtside.
