Trent Perry scored 21 points and No. 22 UCLA prevailed in an opening-night showdown by topping No. 5 Arizona 84-75 in a Hall of Fame Series contest on Monday night in Las Vegas.
Jalen Petty had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Eric Dailey Jr. added 13 points and eight rebounds as the Bruins outplayed former Pac-12 compatriot Arizona.
Ivan Kharchenkov scored a career-best 38 points and collected 10 rebounds for the Wildcats. Derek Dixon added 18 points for Arizona.
The Wildcats trailed by 11 with just over five minutes remaining before ripping off 10 straight points. Dixon buried a 3-pointer to pull Arizona within 71-68 with 3:36 left and Kharchenkov made two free throws 25 seconds later.
UCLA’s Xavier Booker responded with a 3-pointer to give the Bruins a 74-70 lead with 2:59 to play. Dailey scored on a putback with 1:31 to go to make it a six-point margin.
Dixon scored the next five Arizona points as the Wildcats were within 78-75 with 1:06 remaining. But a dunk by Dailey and two free throws apiece by Nikola Kusturica and Perry allowed UCLA to close it out.
UCLA shot 38% from the field and made 10 of 29 from 3-point range. Petty, a transfer from Texas Tech, was 4-of-6 from long distance.
The Wildcats hit 36.7% of their attempts and were 7-of-30 from behind the arc.
Booker hit a jumper to open the second half and give the Bruins a 45-29 lead, the 16-point margin being the biggest of the game.
Arizona answered and Dixon’s baseline jumper cut the deficit to 48-40 with 16:10 left.
The Wildcats trailed by 11 before Kharchenkov scored the next 10 Arizona points.
But UCLA staved off the one-man run and led 62-50 after Petty’s 3-pointer with 9:28 left in the game.
Dixon then drilled two treys in 36 seconds as Arizona crept within six with 8:31 to play.
Joe Philon III made a 3-pointer to give the Bruins a 71-60 advantage with 5:03 to go.
Petty had 10 first-half points as UCLA led 43-29 at halftime. Kharchenkov scored 18 in the half for Arizona.