TUCSON, Ariz. — It seemed only fitting that Arizona seniors would be the keys to victory against UCLA on Saturday.
The big three — Kyle Fogg, Brendon Lavender and Jesse Perry — all played a part in a 65-63 win at McKale Center in front of 14,724 fans on Senior Day. It was the fifth-largest crowd in the 30-year history of the building.
"Each one of them contributed mightily to our victory," Arizona coach Sean Miller said of his seniors.
Even little-used senior Alex Jacobson played after having seen just a handful of minutes all season.
Lavender finished with five points, Perry had 16 points and eight rebounds and Fogg had 20 points and nine rebounds, one short of making it three consecutive double-doubles.
"Like I've said before, when he goes, they go," UCLA guard Jerime Anderson said of his good friend Fogg. "He really gained momentum, especially in the second half. He started making shots and free throws, and you could tell the energy was increasing in the team. He's a good player, always has been."
Fogg has undoubtedly come a long way, both offensively and defensively. The latter is probably understated too much, particularly given his concentration on offense last summer, shooting nearly 40,000 shots to improve that area of his game.
Miller said Fogg's defensive effort against UCLA scoring leader Lazeric Jones "can't be lost on this game."
It wasn't. Jones went just 1 for 12 from the field and finished with just two points, 11.4 under his season average.
"Kyle has improved as much as a defensive player as much as any player that I've coached," Miller said. "His wherewithal, his intelligence and his quickness and intensity ... he really deserves to be on any all-defensive team that's voted on. From a perimeter perspective, he's done it in every game we've played, minus just a few blips on the screen."
Fogg was the best player on the court Saturday, Miller said. Fogg clearly was the best in the second half. He scored 16 points in the game's final 10 minutes and had 13 of UA's 19 points in the final six minutes.
"That's one of the games I'll never forget," Fogg said. "The guys went out there and really battled, and it came down to the last seconds."
Not without a little drama, of course. Again, Fogg played a part. After hitting five consecutive free throws to get Arizona within one at 53-52, Fogg missed one that allowed UCLA to retain the lead. But a half-minute later, he made it to the line again and hit both shots to give Arizona its first lead since the 12-minute mark of the second half.
Then, with 53 seconds left, he hit a big 3-pointer to extend the UA lead to 63-57. UCLA never faded, though, and Fogg missed one of his two attempts with 12 seconds left with Arizona leading 64-61.
Anderson was fouled on UCLA's next possession and hit two free throws to cut the lead to one. Fogg made it 65-63, hiting 1-of-2 free throws with 7.9 seconds remaining.
"I've been in that situation a lot, and that could have cost us the game," Fogg said of his late-game free throws. "That's on me to go there and knock them down. Guys put that trust on me to go knock them down. I have to go finish it."
UCLA had a chance to tie it or win it, but Anderson missed an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer, giving Arizona its 21st win of the season. That assures UA will stay in at least third place in the Pac-12 at 12-5 in conference play.
"I'm proud of our record and how we got here," Miller said.
When asked if he felt his team was as a unique a team as he's ever had that was 12-5 in a conference race, Miller matter-of-factly said "yes." That might be due to the way his team reached its current mark: Arizona is now 7-1 in the month of February after going 4-4 in January.
"I use the word 'mountain' because we've been on this climb," Miller said of the season. "You take a step and all of a sudden a rock hits you and you fall 50 feet. And you get back up and you keep climbing. That's what we've done. We've stayed with it. We're playing excellent basketball for our team."
And, of course, Miller specifically praised his seniors
"You like to see the seniors step up and get better,'' Miller said. "This team, more than any team I've been a part of, has been a function of the seniors just leading and playing exceptional basketball in the end. It makes us feel good seeing these guys finish off what they started a long time ago."
