UCLA Outlasts Arizona State in Thriller, 80-79

LOS ANGELES – Cody Riley scored a team-leading 17 points as the UCLA men's basketball team erased a late seven-point lead to defeat Arizona State, 80-79, in a Pac-12 contest on Saturday in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
 
UCLA (16-5, 12-3 Pac-12) moved into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 standings after having pulled off a ferocious late-game rally.
 
With the win, Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin secured career victory No. 400. In addition, UCLA extended its home winning streak to 18 games (including the last 15 home Pac-12 contests).
 
UCLA trailed by a 77-70 margin after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Arizona State (7-11, 4-8 Pac-12) with 3:57 to play. UCLA pulled the margin to 79-77 with 1:44 to play after a pair of free throws by Riley, a 3-pointer from Jules Bernard, and a layup from Riley.
 
With under 40 seconds to play, Campbell stole the ball from Arizona State and was fouled. He converted both free throws to tie the contest, 79-79.
 
Arizona State's Holland Woods missed a 3-point attempt and UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr. corralled the rebound with 13 seconds to play. Tyger Campbell missed a floater in the lane with under three seconds to go, but Jaylen Clark was fouled on a put-back attempt, going to the free throw line with 1.4 seconds left.
 
Clark missed the first free throw attempt before sinking the second try, giving UCLA an 80-79 advantage. ASU's last-second 3-point heave from near mid-court was unsuccessful, leading to a wild celebration for the Bruins near their bench.
 
UCLA trailed on Saturday night for over 37 minutes. The Bruins' only lead in the game came when Clark made the second of two free throw attempts with just 1.4 seconds to play.
 
Arizona State secured a 41-34 halftime cushion and extended their second-half margin to as many as 10 points (58-48) with 13:37 left in the contest.
 
ASU's Remy Martin scored a game-high 25 points, while Kimani Lawrence and Alonzo Verge Jr. each tallied 18 points. The visiting Sun Devils made 10 of 20 attempts from 3-point range and were 13-for-17 at the free throw line.
 
Riley had a strong effort in just 19 minutes for the Bruins. The junior forward was 6-for-6 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free throw line. He was one of four Bruins to score in double figures, along with Johnny Juzang (12 points), Jules Bernard (11) and Tyger Campbell (10 points, six assists).
 
Jaquez Jr. finished with nine points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.
 
UCLA will return to action at Utah on Thursday and Colorado next Saturday. The Bruins' game at Utah (Thursday, Feb. 25), is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT (6 p.m., MT). That contest will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.