Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell came through in the clutch to secure the Bruins’ first conference title since 2013.
It came down to the wire, but the Bruins still hung on to notch a handful of big wins Sunday afternoon.
No. 4 UCLA men’s basketball (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) held off Colorado (15-15, 7-12) for a 60-56 victory, locking up the Pac-12 regular season title outright in the process. The win also made it three conference road sweeps on the season, and it extended their winning streak to eight games.
Past Bruin teams may have folded in road environments like the ones presented in Boulder, with UCLA trailing at the half, missing virtually all of its 3-pointers and getting caught in a back-and-forth showdown as the clock ticked away.
Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and point guard Tyger Campbell came through in the clutch, though, leading the Bruins with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Campbell, especially, did most of his damage in the second half, overcoming a slow start by draining a step back mid-range jumper that pushed UCLA’s lead from one to three with 1:22 to go.
An emphatic block by big man Adem Bona sparked a fast break that led to a dunk by guard Amari Bailey with 16 seconds remaining, and it was all free throws from then on out.
The Bruins silenced the Buffaloes’ home crowd in the process, and Jaquez launched the ball up in the air to tip off their celebration of UCLA’s first Pac-12 title since 2013. The blue and gold had already secured a share of the regular season championship when Arizona lost to Arizona State on Saturday, but they won it outright thanks to their showing on Sunday.
An hour-and-a-half earlier, however, Colorado’s student section was hoping it would rush the court when the final buzzer sounded.
After Jaquez threw down an alley-oop slam in the first minute of action, the Bruins missed their next 10 shots. UCLA also turned the ball over four times in that same time, falling victim to an 11-0 Colorado run as a result.
Guard Will McClendon’s midrange jumper with 13:07 left in the half ended that run, but the Bruins were unable to stage a big run of their own to wipe out the deficit. Instead, UCLA went down by 10 at the under-eight media timeout as Colorado got going from 3-point land.
The Bruins’ defense finally started to tighten up, even if they were getting a little more luck with the Buffaloes missing open shots. Colorado hit just one field goal in the final 6:55 of the first half, and UCLA got some more consistent offense from Jaquez, Bona and guard Jaylen Clark.
Those three spearheaded a 10-2 run for the Bruins, with Jaquez powering through an ankle injury to lead his team with 10 points at the break. Bona, meanwhile, got a second-chance dunk and a free throw in the waning minutes of the period, and Clark banked in a lob from Campbell right before the buzzer.
Campbell was 0-for-5 from the field in the first half, falling back into his ice cold shooting ways after seemingly breaking out of the funk Thursday against Utah.
Still, Campbell’s assist made it 30-28 Colorado headed into the locker room – only one point off of the 31-28 lead the Buffaloes held at halftime of the first matchup between the two teams at Pauley Pavilion in January.
And just like last time, UCLA overcame it.
The Bruins opened the second half on an 8-0 run, with Bailey tying it and Campbell sending them ahead with a floater and a 3-pointer. The offense cooled off significantly from there, though, hitting just one of their next 11 shots.
Colorado opened the second half on its own 1-for-11 cold streak, but they stayed in it with free throws. The Buffaloes then tied things up with a 3-pointer from guard Luke O’Brien with 9:31 left on the clock.
There were seven lead changes and four ties from then on out, with UCLA leaning on Jaquez and Campbell and Colorado leaning on the long ball.
The Buffaloes kept getting 3-pointers to go down, regardless of who was shooting, where they were shooting from and what the shot clock was at. They even got lucky on a no-call, turning what was actually a double-dribble into a go-ahead triple.
On the other side of the floor, UCLA’s streak of 281 games with multiple 3-pointers made came to a close as they went 1-for-14 from deep.
Although Colorado’s final four makes were all 3-pointers, they didn’t hit a single 2 in the final 10 minutes of the contest. The Buffaloes cooled off from beyond the arc as well, as they didn’t get a field goal of any kind to fall in the final four minutes.
Meanwhile, the Bruins ended the day 6-for-9.
Bailey added 11 points to complement Jaquez and Campbell’s big days, flushing home a dunk and hitting two free throws in the final 20 seconds alone. Bona and Clark added eight points apiece, while coach Mick Cronin got just two points out of his bench.
UCLA will get back on the court for a showdown with Arizona State on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion, but the Bruins already have the No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 tournament locked up. The game will tip off at 6 p.m., and it will be televised ESPN.
Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men’s basketball stories: UCLA Men’s Basketball on Sports Illustrated
