Arizona–UCLA men's basketball rivalry
The Arizona–UCLA men's basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry between the University of Arizona Wildcats and the UCLA Bruins.
Sport | College Basketball |
---|---|
First meeting | February 19, 1923 Arizona 30 – UCLA 43 |
Latest meeting | February 29, 2020 Arizona 64 – UCLA 69 |
Next meeting | TBD |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 103 |
All-time series | UCLA leads, 60–43 |
Largest victory | UCLA by 53 (March 10, 1983) |
Longest win streak | UCLA, 11 (February 17, 1979–March 8, 1984) |
Current win streak | UCLA, 3 (January 26, 2019–present) |
![]() |
Locations of Arizona and UCLA |
Series history
Arizona | UCLA | |
---|---|---|
First Season | 1904 | 1919 |
NCAA Championships | 1 | 11 |
NCAA Final Fours | 4 | 18* |
NCAA Tournament Appearances | 35* | 49* |
Conference Championships | 29 | 37 |
Conference Tournament Championships | 7 | 4 |
All-Americans | 30 | 38 |
Consensus 1st Team All-Americans | 8 | 21 |
The rivalry dates from the first games in 1923, but the true intensity of the series would not occur until the addition of Arizona to the Pac-10 in 1978. Since becoming conference foes, the game is played typically twice per season. The Wildcats and Bruins have faced off 10 times in conference tournament games.
Before the arrival of Lute Olson at Arizona, the Bruins had won 21 of 23 games against the Wildcats. UCLA had been seen as the dominant college basketball program in the west, with few teams able to challenge UCLA for the throne beyond a few wins. The rivalry did not gather steam until Lute Olson’s arrival in 1984, who compiled a 28–23 record against the Bruins during his tenure as Arizona’s head coach.
Since then, the two schools competed for the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) Championship every year, with the two teams winning 22 out of the 30 conference titles, and 8 of 17 conference tournament titles. Arizona clinched their first conference title in 1986, when they won on the road at UCLA in Olson's third season.[1][2] The UCLA-Arizona basketball rivalry is still seen as the match up of the two premier teams in the conference.[3] Also, the performance of the two schools influences the national opinion of the conference. Mike Montgomery, former head coach at both Cal and Stanford has stated, "...If those two are not good, the conference is not perceived as being good. People don't give credit to the schools across the board in the league."
Results
Arizona victories | UCLA victories | Ties |
|
Notes
A 1976 NCAA Elite Eight
B 1990 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
C 2003 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
D 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
E 2010 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
F 2012 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
G 2013 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
H 2014 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
I 2015 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
J 2017 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
K 2018 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
References
- Rivera, Steve (February 20, 2015). "Arizona-UCLA rivalry still burning hot as Pac-12 clubs set to face off". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015.
- Dodds, Tracy (March 4, 1986). "Arizona Climbs Over the Top at Pauley Pavilion : Wildcats Beat UCLA, 88–76, to Clinch a Share of Pacific 10 Championship". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015.
- Yoon, Peter (January 23, 2013). "As usual, UCLA-Arizona is 'must-win' game". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014.