There was a comforting familiarity Saturday afternoon in a rivalry renewed under unusual circumstances.
UCLA and Arizona engage in another classic.
In a sequence that looked just as bizarre as a fan on a video screen showing him drinking beer from a shoe, the Bruins came back from what looked like certain defeat.
A flurry of baskets by Tyler Bilodeau and two free throws by Skyy Clark with 6.1 seconds left gave No. 24 UCLA a stunning 57-54 victory at the Footprint Center after the Bruins finished the game on a 21-5 run to hold the Wildcats scoreless. field goal at the final 8:46.
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Just when the Wildcats appeared to be on their way to a 13-point lead, the Bruins smartly put the ball in the hands of Bilodeau, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half.
Bilodeau’s baseline jumper capped a 15-1 run to give the Bruins a 55-52 advantage with 1:42 remaining before Arizona’s KJ Lewis made two free throws to shave the Wildcats’ deficit to a point.
Arizona got the ball back, but the Bruins doubled team Trey Townsend in the corner and he lost the ball out of bounds after 40 seconds on the bench.
UCLA’s Dylan Andrews hoisted a 3-pointer that was off the mark before Clark got to the rebound and was fouled. Lewis’ 3-pointer that could have tied the score was not close, and the Bruins (9-1) were able to celebrate their eighth straight victory that came in the most unlikely of ways.
It was already looking like an alternate universe, UCLA was playing Arizona on the home court of a different conference team, when something even more bizarre happened early in the second half.
The Bruins looked like they forgot to play basketball.
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Committing foul after foul and repeatedly sending the Wildcats to the free throw line while unable to generate any offense, the Bruins lost their cool as Arizona (4-5) went on a 21-6 run that prompted Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd to hang up. his arms to celebrate.
The game was technically judged at a neutral site, although basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy, who called it a “semi-home” for Arizona, only began to capture the essence of the scene.
Loud “U of A!” heckles from the red-drenched crowd first erupted late in the first half with the Wildcats in the midst of a big run. The volume level would only increase from there.
UCLA found itself in trouble just four minutes into the second half when Eric Dailey Jr., perhaps the team’s best all-around player, picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench. It only got worse for the Bruins when they picked up their seventh foul at the 14:04 mark, sending Arizona to the free throw line for every foul the rest of the game.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.