UCLA men’s basketball rallies to beat Arizona State in final Pac-12 game – Daily News

LOS ANGELES —   The UCLA men’s basketball team played their best nine minutes in the last three weeks to close out the Pac-12 era at Pauley Pavilion on a positive note.

The Bruins blew a 10-point lead in the first half, which they gained during an 18-0 run but rallied in the second half and relied on their defense to overcome a poor shooting performance and earn a hard-fought 59-47 win against Arizona State Saturday night.

Notably, UCLA held the Sun Devils to five points in the final nine minutes of the game.

Sophomore forward Adem Bona led UCLA with 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. Bona, who finished with a double-double also grabbed 12 rebounds and went 8 of 8 at the free-throw line. Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic added 16 points., Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews added 12 points and six assists.

The Bruins (15-16, 10-10 Pac-12) trailed 31-27 at halftime in the storied 11-time NCAA champion program’s final Pac-12 regular season game ever at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA tied the game at 31 with 19:34 left in the second half but was ultimately outplayed to that point and fell behind 42-33 with 12:52 to go.

The Bruins, who shot 38.3% from the field, only mustered six points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

However, UCLA freshman guard Sebastian Mack’s 3-pointer cut Arizona State’s lead to 43-37 with 9:15 to go. Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews’ midrange jumper made it 44-39 at 8:11 mark. Stefanovic’s 3-pointer cut it to 44-42. A 3-pointer by Andrews put UCLA up 45-44 with 5:44 to go. Mack’s 3-pointer extended the Bruins lead to 48-44 with 4:55 remaining in the game. Bona made two free throws to go up 50-44 with 3:45 to go. Bona’s layup made it 52-44. Stefanovic’s 3-pointer but the Bruins up 56-45 with 59 seconds left in the game. Andrews capped off the win with a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining, securing the 59-47 victory.

Meanwhile, it was also senior night for reserve forwards Kenneth Nwuba and Logan Cremonesi, the latter was honored by being inserted into the starting lineup, for his first career start. Cremonesi played the first 100 seconds of the game before being replaced by freshman guard/forward Brandon Williams. Nwuba later checked in midway through the first half.

The Bruins, who entered the game on a five-game losing streak, previously beat the Sun Devils 68-66 in Tempe on Jan. 17.

Arizona State (14-17, 8-12) junior guard Adam Miller scored a team-high 13 points. Junior guard Jamiya Neal had 12 points. Junior guard Frankie Collins added 10 points.

Bona began the game with a driving layup, which put the Bruins up 2-0 with 19:43 left in the first half.

However, UCLA quickly trailed 8-2 with 17:14 remaining in the first half, after Arizona State drilled two 3-pointers by Miller and Collins and a dunk by sophomore center Shawn Phillips Jr.

UCLA still trailed 13-5 at the 15:43 mark, the first media timeout in the nationally televised game.

Bona scored eight straight points to tie the game at 13 with 11:12 to go in the first half.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guard Lazar Stefanovic and freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel put UCLA up 19-13 with 9:47 left in the first half.

Back-to-back fast break dunks by Bona put UCLA up 23-13, which capped off the team’s 18-0 run. However, Bona did not play the final 5:53 of the first half after picking up his second foul.

Arizona State senior forward Alonzo Gaffney’s 3-pointer cut it to 23-16. The Sun Devils pulled within one, 23-22, before Stefanovic made a corner 3-pointer, to go back up 26-22. Miller’s 3-pointer cut UCLA’s advantage to 26-25 with 4:01 to go before halftime. Neal’s layup over Nwuba’s outstretched arm put Arizona State up 27-26. Nwuba made one of two free throws to tie the game at 27. Miller’s layup and Neal’s basket put the Sun Devils up 31-27 at halftime.

UCLA shot 39.1% from the field in the first half on 9 of 23 attempts.  Arizona State shot 50% from the field in the first half, connecting on 13 of 26 attempts.

Meanwhile, nearly 100 former UCLA players from 1950 to 2023, including NBA champions Trevor Ariza and Matt Barnes and former coaches like Jim Harrick and Ben Howland, were honored at halftime, marking the end of the Bruins era in the Pac-12 conference at Pauley Pavilion.