Tuesday night was supposed to be a potential classic top-10 matchup between rivals Arizona and UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. Both teams started fast with Tommy Lloyd's team shooting 6 for 7 from the field in a close 16-12 game. Then it was all downhill for the Wildcats, which struggled all night long to find their rhythm and went on to watch the Bruins walk away with a dominating 75-59 victory.

Throughout the season, No. 3 Arizona (16-2, 6-1 Pac-12) has been able to go on impressive runs when games are close in order to finish off opponents with double-digit victories.

Against UCLA (14-2, 6-1), those runs never came to fruition for the Wildcats, and every time Arizona was able to cut into the Bruins' lead and make it a six or eight-point game, the Bruins would go on their own run to push the lead back into double-digits.

"They do a great job, and they always have of picking matchups. They have four guys that they're comfortable isolating, and if you isolate guys at this level and you surround them with good shooters, it's sometimes hard, it's hard, and you kind of pick your poison a little bit. And tonight, their plan really worked for them," said Lloyd on the Bruins' plan of attack.

"They play like they play, and we knew they were going to try to pick on some matchups, and they did, and it worked out for them. And we'll see how it works out next time."

The Wildcats ended the game shooting 31% from the field and went 7 for 28 from the 3-point line, while UCLA shot 50% from the field and hit 8 of 17 3-pointers on the night.

"It was a hard night for us getting shots, said guard Benn Mathurin. "And we just needed to adjust, and like me, I missed a lot of shots. I could have been better and I'm going to be better the next game."

The backcourt for Arizona struggled to find its shot as the Wildcats guards combined to shoot 12% (5 for 39) from the field.

Mathurin had a team-high 16 points and collected 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. However, he struggled from the field and shot a season-low 22% in the loss.

The player that made up the brunt of the Wildcats' poor shooting night was point guard Kerr Kriisa, who didn't score a point all game long and ended the contest without a basket on 12 attempts from the field and six assists and four turnovers.

"I think you're overthinking it. Kerr is a tough kid. And he didn't play well today. When you're a good aggressive player, you're going to have nights like that, and he wasn't the only one," said Lloyd when asked about Kriisa's poor shooting night against UCLA.

"So, we definitely aren't going to pin anything on him. And he's our guy, and I know going forward he's going to deliver; I'm confident in that."

The one area Arizona dominated the Bruins was the battle of the boards. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle over UCLA, 49-34, and collected 21 offensive rebounds, which helped keep the game close.

Arizona will start preparing for another rivalry matchup as the Wildcats will face Arizona State (6-11, 2-5) Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (MST) on CBS to wrap up the team's busy stretch of games.

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