LAS VEGAS -- The Arizona Wildcats were in trouble in a Pac-12 tournament game with about 12 minutes to go, prompting coach Sean Miller to call a timeout.
UCLA, playing as if its NCAA tourney hopes were riding on the outcome -- which they most likely were -- had just gone up 47-40 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
"I just kind of said, 'Whatever heart we have, we have to give more,'" said senior point guard T.J. McConnell.
Momentum was in the Bruins' huddle. The "score" part of the scoreboard favored UCLA. But another part of the scoreboard hinted that the game was about to turn Arizona's way. Did we mention there were about 12 minutes to go?
If there is one thing to be said about the Wildcats, it's that these guys will flat-out wear you out with size and defense, a trend that often begins to emerge with about 10 to 12 minutes left. So it was Friday night. Arizona's 15-0 run over the next five minutes gave the Wildcats a cushion it would not relinquish in a thrilling game that ended with a 70-64 Arizona win.
In that five-minute stretch, the Wildcats hit 6 of 7 shots. UCLA was 0 for 5 with a turnover. Arizona had an 8-0 edge on the glass.
Arizona can look awkward on offense, especially against a zone like the one UCLA played for much of the game, but players talk about a no-panic attitude because their physical style of play usually will assert itself when the game turns toward the stretch.
"I think that's the biggest thing that people who really aren't around this team, who haven't watched this team a lot, don't give them credit for," said former Arizona guard Nick Johnson, the 2014 Pac-12 Player of the Year who played cheerleader from behind the UA bench with Houston Rockets teammate and ex-Wildcat Jason Terry.
"They may not blow a lot of people out, but you know once 10 minutes are left in the game, these other teams are starting to get tried and their offense is starting to break down. That's when Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) gets a block, or Stanley (Johnson) gets a steal or Kaleb (Tarczewski) takes a charge, something like that.
"The momentum just swings. That is definitely something that is going to pay off in the NCAA Tournament."
But back to Friday night.
The spark coming out of the timeout came from an unlikely source: backup guard Elliott Pitts. Noted as a shooter, he drove from the right baseline and reached around the backboard to put home a layup.
"Coach Miller really just told us we had to attack their zone, especially if you're a guard in the corner, because you have a big man closing out on you," Pitts said.
"He thought I was going to shoot the 3, so I just up-faked and took it baseline and it was wide-open. It's something I haven't done in a while, but teams are scouting me for the 3-point shot, so it's going to make the pump-fake-and-drive a lot easier."
Twice in that 15-0 run, Arizona made the first of two free throws, missed the second, grabbed the rebound and scored.
"That's tremendous," Johnson said. "That's a back-breaker for the other team."
Well, UCLA -- playing for the NCAA lives, remember -- did not go quietly. The Bruins' backs weren't broken until Kevon Looney's 3-point attempt was blocked by Hollis-Jefferson with 11 seconds to go. But the five-minute run was the defining moment, an almost inevitable stretch that showed the influence of how the Wildcats grind foes into submission.
"Eventually, they're going to wear down, and that's when we're going to attack even more," Pitts said.
The Wildcats trailed on the boards for much of the game but ended with a 39-30 edge that is typical of their usual advantage.
"It's our team's resiliency that allows you to sometimes not only have a win in a game like this but also a special season like we've had to this point," Miller said. "I thought tonight, in a one-game kind of setting, really represented who we've really been from start to finish."
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