UCLA basketball: Bruins collapse in the second half, lose to Arizona
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There are losses, and even bigger losses. UCLA experienced both Thursday night. Before the Bruins took the court they learned that forward Reeves Nelson, who had laser surgery to repair a torn retina more than a week ago, would miss the two games on the road trip even though he had been medically cleared to play.
UCLA then added insult to that injury, blowing a 17-point second-half lead in a 78-73 loss to Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson.
Nikola Dragovic’s intentional foul with UCLA trailing, 72-70, completed the collapse with 14 seconds left. Derrick Williams made the two free throws. Nic Wise made four more in the last 12 seconds, and Bruins hopes ended when Michael Roll’s three-pointer bounced harmlessly off the rim.
The Wildcats, who trailed, 50-33, with 15 minutes 50 seconds left, finished with a flurry. Kyle Fogg left the Bruins in a daze, scoring 19 of his game-high 26 points. He made three three-pointers during a 25-8 run that got Arizona even, 58-58.
Fogg also made the two free throws that gave the Wildcats a 65-64 lead.
Nelson has repeatedly battered his body this season, and it has taken a toll. He was poked in the right eye against Kansas during a December game, suffering a corneal abrasion. He was elbowed in the same eye the next time out against New Mexico.
But Nelson’s eye problems became even more serious two weeks ago, when he feel face first after a dunk against Washington State. He required 15 stitches to close a gash over his right eye and, a week later, he learned he had a partial tear of the retina in the left eye.
The Bruins were also playing without reserve center J’mison Morgan, who was serving a one-game suspension for missing a meeting with the training staff.
-- Chris Foster in Tucson
Twitter.com/cfosterlatimes