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Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV, right, drives past UCLA guard Tyger Campbell in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado forward Jeriah Horne, right, passes the ball as UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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UCLA forward Mac Etienne, left, defends as Colorado guard D’Shawn Schwartz looks to pass the ball in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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UCLA guard Tyger Campbell, left, fires the ball to the rim as Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV defends as time runs out in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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UCLA forward Mac Etienne, left, deflects a shot by Colorado forward Evan Battey in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV, right, recovers the ball as UCLA guard Tyger Campbell defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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UCLA forward Cody Riley, center, shoots between Colorado forward Jeriah Horne, left, and guard McKinley Wright IV during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado forward Evan Battey, right, is trapped with the ball by UCLA guard Jules Bernard, center, and forward Cody Riley in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado forward Dallas Walton, left, looks to pass the ball as UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., center, and guard Jules Bernard defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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UCLA guard Tyger Campbell, left, looks to pass the ball as Colorado forward Evan Battey defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado forward Evan Battey, right, drives to the basket as UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado forward Dallas Walton, left, slams the ball on the floor after being called for a foul as guard Eli Parquet looks on in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. Walton was called for a technical foul for his action. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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UCLA head coach Mick Cronin directs his players against Colorado in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Last weekend, a USC loss earlier in the day allowed UCLA to take advantage of an opportunity to climb in the Pac-12 standings, which it did. The Bruins topped Arizona State in the final second to regain top spot in the conference.
The same opportunity presented itself Saturday after USC lost to Utah, the Bruins had the chance to create a sizable gap at the top, but wasn’t able to capitalize in a 70-61 defeat to Colorado in Boulder Saturday night on ESPN2.
Despite the loss, UCLA (17-6, 13-4 Pac-12) is still in first place in the Pac-12, a half game ahead of USC. Colorado (19-7, 13-6) is now just one game back of first place with the victory.
Just two players scored in double figures for UCLA, Johnny Juzang led the Bruins with 25 points on 7 of 12 shooting and five rebounds. Freshman Jaylen Clark had a career-high 10 points.
The Buffs finished the game on a 13-3 run in the final 6:20. UCLA committed 14 turnovers in the game, five of which came in that 6:20 stretch.
“Candidly, I thought we tried to play too much individual basketball down the stretch,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “Therefore, we had guys out of control. That’s why we had turnovers.”
The Bruins went almost seven minutes without a field goal. Tyger Campbell converted on a 3-pointer that gave UCLA a 57-55 lead with 7:11 left. The next Bruin field goal was made by Juzang, a meaningless 3-pointer with 19 seconds left with the game already in hand.
The game had 14 lead changes and 11 ties. The opening half had seven ties and five lead changes.
UCLA’s first lead didn’t come until the 11-minute mark on a Juzang layup, 13-11, but it was stolen away with a 3-pointer by Colorado’s Tristan da Silva on the ensuing possession. It was a tell of how the night was going to be, especially with Pac-12 position on the line ahead of March.
“This kind of sucked because USC lost,” Clark said. “We could have put ourselves a game and a half ahead.”
UCLA took a 23-20 lead after a Clark floater, his second elusive finish of the opening half. A 3-pointer from Jules Bernard created a 26-22 lead for the Bruins – part of a 6-0 run. UCLA made 7 of 8 shots during the stretch.
Colorado forward Dallas Walton was given a technical foul after slamming the ball into the floor in reaction to a shooting foul. UCLA made four straight free throws to give the largest lead of the half, 32-24. It seemed UCLA was ready to make its move before halftime, but it was Colorado that did instead – well, McKinley Wright IV, really. Wright made four of the Buffs’ six field goal attempts in the final five minutes to pull Colorado to within one point at halftime, 35-34.
“When we had that eight-point lead, he just said, ‘we ain’t losing on my senior night,’” Cronin said of Wright’s effort.
Wright, who became the first player in conference history to tally 1,600 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists, had 17 of his 26 points at halftime. He shot 10 of 16 from the field with five rebounds and six assist.
“We did a bad job defending him,” Cronin said. “He’s a great player, he made a lot of tough shots.”
NCAA Tournament talk
ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi was interviewed during Saturday night’s broadcast, and was asked about what the Pac-12’s contribution was going to be to the NCAA Tournament.
As of Saturday night, Lunardi has USC (projected No. 5 seed), Colorado (No. 7), UCLA (No. 8), and Oregon (No. 9) as locks for the national tournament, but said Stanford’s most recent losses to Oregon and Oregon State (without leading scorer Oscar da Silva, injury) has the Cardinal on the outside looking in. Stanford is listed on Lunardi’s “First Four Out”.
During such a wild year that’s had over 1,000 games canceled due to COVID-19, Lunardi says that’s not a huge factor in selection.
“When I look at it, I don’t look at the 1,000, I look at the 4,000 that have been played,” Lunardi said. “That’s the on only logical way to approach the selection and seeding process.”
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