TEMPE, Ariz. — Just keep finding a way.
That was the mandate for UCLA on Thursday night, the fifth-ranked Bruins entering their Pac-12 Conference showdown with Arizona State holding the nation’s longest winning streak among major conference teams.
Extending the streak would sustain the midseason fun while also preventing the Sun Devils from moving into a tie atop the conference standings. It would also move UCLA halfway to a desert sweep that ESPN’s Joe Lunardi said could vault the team to a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Everything remained in play after the Bruins’ latest escape, a 74-62 victory at Desert Financial Arena that came courtesy of more late gutsy play.
Smothered for most of a night in which he missed two layups and back-to-back free throws, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. rose for a three-pointer and a turnaround jumper that gave his team a 70-62 lead.
Those shots helped carry a game-ending 16-2 run for the Bruins, who desperately needed the supplementary offense with Tyger Campbell carrying such a heavy load. Campbell led his team with 22 points while making seven of 11 shots.
While Campbell rapped his forehead with clenched fists in celebration of his team’s 14th consecutive win, UCLA guard David Singleton, who had 21 points, cupped his hand to his ear while looking at the silent student section.
Jaquez could smile after making only four of 12 shots for nine points.
UCLA (17-2 overall, 8-0 Pac-12) withstood a barrage of three-pointers from Arizona State, which made nine of 22, including one from Frankie Collins that had given the Sun Devils (15-4, 6-2) a 60-58 lead before UCLA commenced its late push.
The Bruins kept finding the energy to come back in the second half.
Trailing by as many as six points, the Bruins moved into a 58-57 lead with 6:34 left after freshman center Adem Bona made one of two free throws after a Singleton corner three-pointer had tied the score.
Opening the second half with an old-fashioned Bruin blitz, UCLA rolled off eight consecutive points to surge into a 38-35 lead. Campbell made a layup in which he was fouled to complete a three-point play, Singleton buried a three-pointer and Jaylen Clark maximized his steal with a putback basket.
Heading into this perilous trip, the Bruins were in an almost identical situation to where they were when they faced the Arizona schools last season. They owned the same two-loss record and were ranked only two spots lower than they were at that point a year ago.
UCLA hoped the similarities ended there.
The Bruins lost both games, including a three-overtime clunker against an Arizona State team that at the time had more than twice as many losses as victories. The setbacks were among the factors that dropped the Bruins to a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.
For Arizona State to pull the upset in the latest matchup, it was probably going to need success in one: three-point accuracy. That was a winning formula for the only two teams that had beaten UCLA before Thursday. Illinois made 48% of its shots from long range and Baylor’s LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler had combined to make eight of 16 two days later.
UCLA entered this game with its own checklist. Near the top was squeezing more production out of a bench that had been held scoreless last weekend against Colorado. That mission was doubly important especially considering Arizona State’s rotation goes 10 deep.
It didn’t help the Bruins’ cause that freshman guard Amari Bailey missed a sixth consecutive game because of discomfort in his left foot, forcing Singleton, normally the team’s sixth man, to remain a starter.
It was free the knees night for UCLA’s Will McClendon and Mac Etienne, who shed their knee braces for the first time all season in a final goodbye to the injuries that cost them both all of last season. But McClendon’s struggles from long range continued as he airballed a three-point attempt and Etienne was limited to an eight-second cameo appearance in the first half.
UCLA freshman guard Dylan Andrews provided a spark off the bench with five quick points in the first half.
A record Sun Devils student section of 5,213 unleashed its fury before tipoff, chanting “F— the Bruins!” The decibel level soared as Desmond Cambridge Jr. sank a half-court heave at the halftime buzzer, giving the home team a 35-30 advantage.
Things were much quieter about an hour later as the Bruins walked into a tunnel below them, arms raised into the air in celebration.
