LOS ANGELES — Long before the season’s first game, Mick Cronin girded himself for this night.
It was going to be excruciating for UCLA’s coach to bid farewell to his seniors in their final home game. There was no way to guard against the spontaneous emotions unleashed by the group that had revived the Bruins, taking them to one Final Four while making them a national championship contender once again this season.
Fortunately for Cronin, those seniors were hellbent on making it a happy sendoff.
David Singleton buried one three-pointer after another. Tyger Campbell continually got the roll on tough jumpers, as if the basketball gods were rewarding him for all those years of toil. Jaime Jaquez Jr. made a hanging floater in which he was fouled, prompting the sellout crowd to chant “MVP!”
The veterans pushed No. 4 UCLA to an 82-73 victory over No. 8 Arizona on Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion that might have come at a significant cost even as the Bruins extended their winning streak to 10 games and finished unbeaten at home for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
Junior guard Jaylen Clark, the Bruins’ top defender, left the game in the second half with what appeared to be a serious injury given that he returned to the bench on crutches.
That left those seniors to finish things off. Boy, did they ever.
Singleton scored 17 points and made five of nine three-pointers. Campbell tallied 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. And in a performance that might have clinched the Pac-12 Conference player of the year award, Jaquez logged 22 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
In the final minute, Jaquez and Campbell celebrated by pressing their heads together before Campbell stepped to the free-throw line. After Campbell made the first free throw, Jaquez departed to roars from the crowd. Campbell and Singleton then left after the next free throw to more cheers.
Along the way, the Bruins (27-4 overall, 18-2 Pac-12) extended the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 25 games while avenging a loss to the Wildcats (25-6, 14-6) from earlier in the season. Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out for a team that finished four games back in the conference standings.
The crowd was in a celebratory mood after UCLA rolled off the first eight points of the second half to surge into a 48-37 lead, but there was a significant caveat. Clark had to be helped to the locker room after coming up with a steal in the backcourt that he followed with a layup before limping awkwardly toward the bench.
There was a surprise before tipoff when the Bruins unveiled an all-senior starting lineup that included sixth man Singleton, reserve big man Kenneth Nwuba and walk-on guard Russell Stong in addition to regulars Jaquez and Campbell. Making the first start of his career, Stong needed some help from Campbell on where to stand for the opening tip.
But he generated almost instantaneous cheers when he grabbed the game’s first rebound and raised both arms when left open on the wing on his team’s first possession. The makeshift lineup lasted all of 67 seconds before Cronin went back to his regulars.
The pregame senior tribute included only smiles, no tears, among the players. Each was presented with a framed jersey he hoisted triumphantly into the air. Jaquez’s father wrapped Cronin in a bear hug and lifted him into the air, Cronin raising a triumphant fist into the air.
More than a happy sendoff was on the agenda for the Bruins. Beating Arizona would bolster UCLA’s NCAA tournament standing that had been a point of contention since the Bruins were listed behind the Wildcats in the selection committee’s early top seeds reveal a few weeks ago.
Most mock brackets had since elevated UCLA over Arizona, but a victory over the Wildcats would put the issue to rest and keep the Bruins in the running for a No. 1 seed.
The opening minutes went about as poorly as possible for the overamped Bruins. Nearly every shot long, they missed 12 of their first 12 tries as Arizona raced to a 13-2 lead that left the crowd restless. But just like they had two nights earlier, when they also fell behind by double digits against Arizona State, the Bruins steadily rallied.
UCLA’s 40-37 halftime lead came courtesy of Singleton making four of five three-pointers and some active defense that invigorated the crowd. Students who had camped out and waited in a line that snaked around campus were treated earlier in the day to pizza delivered by Cronin and snacks from his team.
This was a farewell and, the Bruins hoped, a prelude to something even more meaningful. Next up is a quarterfinal game in the Pac-12 tournament against Washington or Colorado on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena. A week later comes the NCAA tournament and the expectation of a deep run into March.
There’s always the chance these seniors could return to their home court one more time if there’s a banner to raise.
