TEMPE, Ariz. — Nothing has come easy for UCLA during this most unusual season.
Facing an opponent down four players and coming off a three-week layoff, the Bruins found themselves in another taut game Thursday night at Desert Financial Arena.
On a night the rosters were depleted, the stands practically vacant, the big-picture meaning of it all probably minimal, UCLA was in its third consecutive game that came down to the final possession.
Bruins guard Tyger Campbell couldn’t capitalize against Arizona State, his lob for Jalen Hill sailing over his head out of bounds with the score tied at 65-65 with five-tenths of a second left.
Marcus Bagley’s desperation turnaround jumper at the buzzer was off the mark and the teams headed for overtime, when the Bruins prevailed 81-75.
Campbell made one of two free throws with 9.9 seconds left to give his team a 65-63 lead. But Campbell fouled Arizona State’s Alonzo Verge Jr. on a floater with 5.8 seconds left and Verge made both free throws to tie the score.
The Bruins looked like they might pull away when forward Cody Riley powered his way for a layup that gave UCLA a 60-54 lead. But Verge drove and found Chris Osten for a dunk before Campbell had a shot blocked by Joshua Christopher, leading to a Verge three-pointer.
Just like that, UCLA’s lead was down to 60-59.
But Bruins guard Jules Bernard made a layup in transition and after Arizona State’s Holland Woods was called for traveling, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley picked up a technical foul for complaining.
UCLA guard Johnny Juzang made both resulting free throws and the Bruins’ lead was back up to 64-59.
The Sun Devils had another push left in them after Verge banked in a driving layup and Campbell missed a floater, giving the ball back to Arizona State after it grabbed the rebound.
Christopher threw a cross-court pass out of bounds, but the Bruins couldn’t capitalize when a Juzang corner three-pointer bounced off the rim.
Christopher’s driving layup pulled the Sun Devils to within 64-63 with 37 seconds left.
Both teams were short-handed because of various issues and the sloppy play reflected the absences.
UCLA was missing Chris Smith, its second-leading scorer who was lost for the season after tearing a knee ligament last week. Smith made the trip, grabbing rebounds in warmups and appearing buoyant before the game.
Arizona State was missing four players, forging ahead without preseason All-American Remy Martin, starting forward Jalen Graham, part-time starter Taeshon Cherry and reserve Jaelen House.
Martin was attending a family funeral, Graham was out with mononucleosis and Cherry and House were missing because of COVID-19 issues.
The absence of the four players took their combined average of 29.9 points off the board for the Sun Devils and left them with only eight scholarship players.
Etc.
UCLA announced that it would make up its postponed game against Oregon on Jan. 19 at Matthew Knight Arena as part of a stretch in which the Bruins will play three road games in five days. After playing the Ducks, UCLA will play California on Jan. 21 and Stanford on Jan. 23 in the Bay Area before returning home. ... The game between UCLA and Oregon scheduled for Dec. 23 was postponed after a game official tested positive for COVID-19 and the other two officials were quarantined as a result of contact tracing.
