No. 15 UCLA women beat Arizona for third straight win

In all aspects, UCLA succeeded. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to just win every game”.

Arizona minus-1 vs. UCLA, $550 to win $500 : Arizona beat UCLA on January 31 by 11 points on the road, so only needing to win straight-up tonight in a primetime game on their home floor is more than obtainable for the Wildcats.

The Bruins are shooting an NCAA-best 53.2 percent from the field this season.

The Wildcats went almost seven minutes in the second half with just two points, allowing the Bruins to turn a five-point deficit into a 62-55 lead. The Wildcats shot 5 for 18 from beyond the arc, and 2 for 10 in the second half against the zone. The most impressive stat? It also had difficulty creating quality looks against UCLA’s 3-2 zone.

Despite one last Arizona run in the final minutes, UCLA (26-3, 13-3 Pac-12) outfought its way to a 77-72 win over Arizona (26-4, 15-2).

No. 25 Wichita State 86, Missouri State 67: Landry Shamet scored a career-best 23 points as visiting Wichita State clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title for a fourth straight season.

The Wildcats outrebounded UCLA, 42-33, in the teams’ meeting earlier this season.

Not everything went great for the Bruins, though.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Moe Wagner scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half to lead MI. Steve Alford tried to sneak some rest for Lonzo Ball late in the half, and the Bruins ended up paying for it, as Arizona went on a run. I’ll take the Wildcats and the small line. He averages 15.0 points, 7.5 assists and 6.3 rebounds. Against Arizona’s stingy defense, UCLA didn’t play at the explosive pace we’re used to seeing, but it got a balanced offensive effort, with Bryce Alford (15), Thomas Welsh (14), T.J. Leaf (12), Aaron Holiday (12) and Lonzo Ball (11) all scoring in double figures.

Trier finished with 28 points for Arizona, a season-high, but didn’t get enough help. Saturday’s game had 66 possessions, just the fifth time this season UCLA has been in a sub-70 possession game but the third time during its win streak.

He later told the media he told his team that “let’s not let one game determine the 35, 40 game season that we have”. The big man was 7-10 from the field for 14 points, and absolutely dominated the Wildcats on the inside.

No. 5 UCLA will be at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday night for a huge matchup with No. 4 Arizona. By winning at Arizona on Saturday, UCLA showed that it might be the most capable of the three conference heavyweights. Yet UCLA made 3 more baskets than the Wildcats did. Specifically offensive rebounding, the one facet of the nation’s top offense that isn’t typically anything special. The UCLA Bruins are allowing 36.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 37.5 rebounds per game. “Which he does in practice but that’s the best in a game he’s played”, Holiday said. But I’d still have all three in the top 10.

With the clock winding down, it was Arizona’s lone senior – on senior day – who took the final shot. Tip-off is set for 8:00 PM PST.