Fiery halftime speech ignites No. 17 Arizona past UCLA

[February 13, 2016]  TUCSON, Ariz. -- For Arizona it was all about its legacy. At least it was for the seniors as the Wildcats head toward the end of their careers.

At halftime, Arizona coach Sean Miller got on his seniors Kaleb Tarczewski, Gabe York, Ryan Anderson and Mark Tollefsen with his team down 44-34. It wasn't the first time this season, he's pushed them to get better.

"What do you want to be remembered for?" Miller said of what he asked his seniors. "Who are you? It's second halves like tonight that define their legacy. When you think of Kaleb Tarczewski you're going to think about how he did rebounding the ball in the second half. Gabe York doing an outstanding job defensively. Ryan Anderson playing through some bad moments and being great at the end.

"We were led by our seniors. I give them a lot of credit."

They combined for 36 points in Arizona's 81-75 win over visiting UCLA in McKale Center.

They also combined for 30 rebounds. Tarczewski led with a game-high 14 rebounds, eight in the second half.

"He asked us what we wanted our legacy to be," Tarczewski said of the halftime speech. "That kind of set in. We weren't doing what we needed to do or what we do in the first half. The entire team came out in the second half with energy and locked in with the details."

And it proved to be the difference. Arizona outscored UCLA 47-31 in the second half.

"They got very physical, and we couldn't get to the bonus," UCLA coach Steve Alford said. "I thought our guards did a good job driving. We were a little bit out of character starting the second half ... I thought the guys got frustrated a little bit because of the rhythm of the game."

And UCLA couldn't recover.

It helped that Arizona freshman guard Allonzo Trier scored 18 points, including 15 in the second half, to help the Wildcats. It was Trier's second game back after missing the previous seven with a broken right hand.

"It was great (to have Trier back)," said Tarczewski. "He was getting his rhythm in the first half and then the second half he did great and provided us huge, huge minutes down the stretch of that game. We're so happy to have him back."

The Wildcats shot 51 percent from the field in the second half compared with 29 percent in the first half.

Four Wildcats scored in double figures. Sophomore guard Parker Jackson Cartwright had a career-high 16 points, including a key 3-pointer with 2:32 left.

"He's one of the best shooters on our team," Miller said of Jackson-Cartwright. "And our big guys did a great job of finding him and if he gets an open look .... "

Guard Bryce Alford, who finished with 17 points, tried to keep the Bruins (13-11, 4-7) in the game, hitting a deep 3-pointer under 20 seconds left, but Trier followed with two more free throws.

Junior guard Isaac Hamilton led UCLA with 24 points, hitting 10 of 15 shots from the floor.

Senior Ryan Anderson, who had 11 points, gave Arizona its first lead in the second half at 60-59 with 7:30 left.

Much like the first meeting between the two teams last month, Arizona had to fight back to make it close after trailing 44-34 at halftime.

But behind Trier, Arizona caught UCLA with 6:37 left after center Thomas Welsh fouled out attempting to get a rebound over Anderson, who hit one of two free throws to make it 61-all before Alford scored on a driving layup.

Less than a minute later, UCLA lost its second big man. Tony Parker pushed Tarczewski going after a rebound and Tarczewski hit both free throws to tie it at 63.

Arizona outscored UCLA 29-12 from the free throw line. Arizona shot 45 free throws to UCLA's 16.

"We're not going to win a game 45-16 at the free throw line," Alford said. "...it was hard to keep them at bay when one team is getting 45 free throws and one is getting 16. Hopefully we won't foul as much next game."

Arizona shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half and trailed UCLA for the final 15 minutes in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bruins led 44-34 at halftime.

Arizona started cold from the floor, hitting just 6 of 20 shots, including 3 of 10 from beyond the 3-point line. The Wildcats didn't warm up later in the half, hitting just two of its last 13 shots before intermission.

Meanwhile, UCLA made 13 of its first 24 shots from the field and was at 53 percent during the first half.

UCLA built a 35-25 lead as Arizona missed nine consecutive shots. The Wildcats entered the game shooting 49.1 percent from the floor, second best in the Pac-12.

NOTES: Arizona freshman C Chance Comanche did not dress. He suffered concussion-like symptoms earlier in the week in practice. ... Arizona sophomore G Parker Jackson-Cartwright made his second start of the season and second in three games, replacing Kadeem Allen. ... Former Arizona standouts Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Brooklyn Nets), Stanley Johnson (Detroit Pistons) and T.J. McConnell (Philadelphia 76ers) attended the game to cheer for their former teammates. ... Arizona G Elliott Pitts remained out because of personal reasons. He last played Dec. 5 against Gonzaga, missing the last 17 games. He played in all 38 games last year as a sophomore. ... UCLA junior G Isaac Hamilton has scored in double figures 20 consecutive times. The last UCLA player to reach double figures more than 20 consecutive times was Kevin Love in 2008.

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