LOS ANGELES — Maybe Sean Miller should have stayed home all week.
So sick Monday that he took a rare absence from practice, the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ coach watched his team suffer a second consecutive blowout loss, 90-69 to UCLA, with the Wildcats again appearing to lack any sort of rhythm or confidence without injured center Chase Jeter on Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ shot just 33.3 percent from the field and gave up 57.9 percent to UCLA, while the Bruins also crushed the Wildcats in rebounding, 47-30. The Wildcats managed to hit 8 of 26 3s (30.7 percent) after making 6 of 13 from long range in the second half, when the game was effectively over.
Combined with ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 80-57 loss at USC on Thursday, it was the worst scoring margin over a two-game Pac-12 weekend that Miller has ever had as the Wildcats’ head coach. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has been swept three times previously in Los Angeles under Miller, but the two-game scoring margins were only five (2015-16), 16 (2012-13) and 30 (2010-11).
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ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥'s scoring margin on the road trip this week was minus-44.
The Wildcats dropped to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12. UA will face only a Thursday night game at ASU this week, before hosting first-place Washington on Feb. 7.
UCLA improved to 11-9 and 3-4.
The Bruins were led by forward Kris Wilkes, who had a career-high 34 points on 12 for 16 shooting.
Brandon Williams was a lone bright spot for UA offensively, scoring 19 points on 6 for 13 shooting. But the Wildcats overall were just as ineffective as they were at USC, where they shot just 27.8 percent from the field.
Brandon Randolph was 4 for 16 from the field while Ryan Luther was 2 of 9, Dylan Smith 2 for 7 and Justin Coleman 0 for 3.
Miller had tried to mitigate UCLA’s size by starting Ira Lee over Smith, and Lee responded with nine points and seven rebounds. Miller also inserted former walk-on Jake DesJardins in spots. Miller said after the USC game that his lineup was the smallest he had played in 15 years as a head coach.
DesJardins, a 6-6 forward who was awarded a scholarship before this season, was assigned to guard UCLA’s 7-1 Moses Brown. At one point, DesJardins picked up a foul while going up strong, but missed both free throws to wild cheers from UCLA students.
DesJardins had activated what is known as the “Brick-n for Chicken†promotion, in which all fans in attendance get a free Chick-fil-A sandwich when an opposing team misses two straight free throws in the second half.
Actually, it was a profitable night all around for UCLA fans. They also picked up a free "Skyslide" ride because UCLA hit eight 3-pointers (the Bruins were 9 of 23 from beyond the arc) and a free "sharable item" from Buffalo Wild Wings because the Bruins scored more than 82 points.
DesJardins’ misses left UCLA with a 55-35 lead early in the second half and the Bruins maintained at least a 20-point lead the rest of the way.
In the first half, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ put up almost an exact replica of its poor shooting first-half at USC, making only 23.5 percent of its shots and falling behind UCLA 38-25 at halftime. At USC, the Wildcats shot 21.2 percent in the first half at USC and trailed 36-19 at halftime.