LAS VEGAS — While marveling at fans sitting in the upper reaches of the vast T-Mobile Arena for a second straight night, Deandre Ayton hardly worried about one particularly famous basketball guy right in front of him.
Sitting courtside, Magic Johnson could see every one of the 32 season-high points and 14 rebounds Ayton collected Friday while he led the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats to the Pac-12 Tournament championship game with a 78-67 win over UCLA in overtime.
“I was surprised,†Ayton said. “I don’t even know why he was there.â€
Ayton was then reminded that Johnson, um, runs the Los Angeles Lakers.
“That’s a blessing,†Ayton said. “I’m glad I performed well. He came to the right game.â€
Not that it may matter. Ayton said again Friday that he’ll be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft next June, meaning Johnson’s opinion won’t matter as much to Ayton’s fate as a lottery pingpong ball will, but that he is only worried about getting the Wildcats a national championship first.
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If he plays like he did Friday, Ayton may find both of those things happening.
Ayton’s dominant play in 40-plus minutes, including an overtime period when he scored the first eight points, helped offset UA’s initial rebounding issues and a 2-of-13 shooting night by Allonzo Trier. Ayton’s double-double also tied the UA season record of 22 set by Al Fleming in 1974-75.
After UA avenged UCLA’s 82-74 win at McKale Center last month, Trier sat in his locker stall with a smile, glad that Ayton appeared to have cured the butterflies he cited after getting just 10 points and six rebounds against Colorado a night earlier.
“I asked him if he was a little anxious and he said 'yeah,'" Trier said of Ayton. “It was good to see him rebound and get back to his dominant self.â€
UA senior guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who added 11 points and four assists while making 3 of 5 3-pointers, said it was a syndrome former UA freshmen standouts such as Lauri Markkanen and Stanley Johnson went through, too.
“All the big-time players get it,†Jackson-Cartwright said.
After UA trailed 30-26 at halftime, lacking a single offensive rebound in the first half while PJC went 0 for 3, things changed in the second half. UCLA, which shot 51.6 percent from the field at McKale, shot just 39.7-percent shooting Friday.
UCLA standout point guard Aaron Holiday was just 3 of 12 from 3-point range while scoring 15 points, although center Thomas Welsh led UCLA with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
In regulation, Welsh hit a 3-pointer with 1:53 left to tie the game at 65 but Ayton made a rebound basket to give ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ a 67-65 lead entering the final minute.
Jaylen Hands drove in for a layup with eight seconds left to tie it at 67 and then UCLA had a final chance to win after UA’s Rawle Alkins was called for traveling before he threw up an errant 25-footer with 1.9 seconds left.
Kris Wilkes inbounded to Holiday just over the midcourt line, and Holiday drove for a 30-footer that squeezed between the rim and backboard but did not fall in. The Bruins never scored again, through five minutes of overtime play.
Down by four at halftime, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ opened the second half on an 18-8 run, hitting seven of its first nine shots from the field, including two 3-pointers from Jackson-Cartwright. That gave the Wildcats a 44-38 lead with 15:35 left and the Wildcats kept leads of two possessions or more throughout the middle of the second half.
But a layup from Hands through the UA defense cut ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s lead to 55-52 entering the final eight minutes. The Wildcats made just 1 of 10 field goals heading into the final five minutes, allowing UCLA to tie the game at 60 after Trier missed a 3-pointer and Kris Wilkes raced downcourt and dunked over him with 4:45 left.
In the first half, UCLA took a 30-26 lead by outrebounding UA 22-13, with six offensive rebounds. Welsh had 11 rebounds alone for the Bruins, while Ayton had seven points and six rebounds.
UA was 3 of 13 from 3-point range while UCLA was 4 of 16. In those first 20 minutes, the Bruins shot just 37.5 percent from the field while ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ made 40.7 percent.
UCLA took an early 11-6 lead when the Bruins hit three of their first five 3-point shots while keeping Ayton scoreless until he hit a 3-pointer with 13:26 left in the half to cut UCLA’s lead to 15-11.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ then pulled within 17-16 after Keanu Pinder hit an 8-footer and later drew a foul off a no-look pass from Ayton, hitting 1 of 2 ensuing free throws.
But the Bruins went ahead 22-16 after Hands hit a 13-foot jumper and Chris Smith made a 3 in front of the UA bench with 7:20 left. At that point, UCLA had hit 4 of 12 3s while UA was just 1 of 8. UCLA was also outrebounding UA 15-10 then.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ went on a 7-0 run to take a brief 23-22 lead but then was scoreless for nearly three minutes while UCLA carried a lead into halftime.