UCLA men’s basketball recovers from a 13-point deficit to stun Arizona

PHOENIX – On Saturday afternoon, there was a reassuring familiarity in a rivalry that was rekindled under unusual circumstances.

UCLA and Arizona delivered another classic.

In a sequence that seemed as bizarre as the fan drinking a beer out of a shoe on the video board, the Bruins stormed back from seemingly certain defeat.

A flurry of baskets from Tyler Bilodeau and two free throws from Skyy Clark with 6.1 seconds left gave No. 24 UCLA a stunning 57-54 win at the Footprint Center after the Bruins closed the game on a 21-5 run and the Wildcats held a clean sheet field goal over the final 8:46.

Just when it looked like the Wildcats were on their way to a breakaway with a 13-point lead, the Bruins cleverly put the ball further into the hands of Bilodeau, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half.

Bilodeau’s baseline jumper capped a 15-1 run and gave the Bruins a 55-52 lead with 1:42 left before Arizona’s KJ Lewis made two free throws to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to one point.

Arizona got the ball back, but the Bruins doubled up on Trey Townsend in the corner and he lost the ball out of bounds with 40 seconds left, leading to a turnover.

UCLA’s Dylan Andrews shot a three-pointer that missed before Clark chased down the rebound and was fouled. Lewis’s three-pointer that could have tied the game wasn’t close, and the Bruins (9-1) were able to celebrate their eighth straight win in the most unlikely of ways.

It already felt like an alternate universe with UCLA playing Arizona on both teams’ home courts in different conferences when something even more bizarre took place early in the second half.

The Bruins looked like they had forgotten how to play basketball.

Committing foul after foul and repeatedly sending the Wildcats to the free throw line despite being unable to generate offense, the Bruins lost their mojo as Arizona (4-5) went on a 21-6 run , which caused Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd to flutter his arms in celebration.

Technically, the game took place at a neutral site, although basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy’s description of it as a “half-home stadium” for Arizona only begins to capture the essence of the scene.

Loud chants of “U of A!” from a crowd drenched in red first erupted toward the end of the first half when the Wildcats were in the midst of a big run. From then on, the volume level would only increase.

UCLA was in trouble just four minutes into the second half when Eric Dailey Jr., perhaps the team’s best all-around player, picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. Things got worse for the Bruins when they committed their seventh foul with 14:04 left, sending Arizona to the free throw line for every foul for the rest of the game.