Still plenty on the line Saturday in Los Angeles with Arizona at UCLA to close Pac-12 slate

That’s OK. Everything else is.

When the Wildcats and Bruins wrap up their regular seasons at Pauley Pavilion before an ESPN audience Saturday, there will be significant NCAA Tournament  implications for both teams. The final audition for Player of the Year for both UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez and Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis. The chance for UCLA to avenge its loss to Arizona at McKale Center on Jan. 21, and the chance for Arizona to avenge its loss at UCLA last season.

Also, it’s still UCLA-Arizona. The sort of marquee matchup that can draw attention any time of the season, during any season. With any coaches, or any players. And whether or not the conference championship is at stake.

That’s why longtime UA aide Jack Murphy, now the Wildcats’ associate head coach, bristled at the notion that maybe Saturday’s matchup loses something without any conference implications.

“No. No. No,” Murphy said. “It’s Arizona-UCLA. I’ve never been part of an Arizona-UCLA game where both teams don’t really want to win.

“It doesn't matter if it was when they had Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook and they were dominating the league, and we were struggling. Or when they've hit some hard times, like in Steve Lavin’s last game when they really wanted to beat us and they beat us in overtime. I've never been part of an Arizona UCLA game where both teams aren’t laying it all out.”

Lavin, who went on to coach at St. John’s and is now at San Diego, actually extended his UCLA career by a day with the Bruins’ shocking overtime defeat of the top-seeded Wildcats in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

But UCLA was at a low point that season, firing Lavin after a 10-19 finish. Now, the Bruins might be at another high point, the kind they were at while reaching the Final Four in 2006, 2007 and 2008 — the latter two with Westbrook and with Love in 2008; and they also reached the Final Four unexpectedly in 2021 via a run all the way from the First Four.

The coach of those three consecutive Final Four teams also left them some advice that plays into what might be UCLA's biggest motivation for Saturday’s game: Ben Howland told the Bruins they must aim to get the No. 1 seed in the West Region.

While the Bruins are expected to open NCAA Tournament play in Sacramento no matter what, getting the No. 1 seed in the West would ensure they will face no higher than a No. 8 seed over their first two games — and allow them the chance to play Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Las Vegas, at the same familiar T-Mobile Arena site where the Pac-12 Tournament will be held next week.

In 2006-07, UCLA advanced to the Final Four after playing in Sacramento and then San Jose. In 2007-08, the Bruins advanced to the Final Four via Anaheim, California and Phoenix.

Proximity may matter.

“Coach Howland talking about getting the No. 1 seed in the West, I think that’s something that really stuck with us throughout the season,” UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez said earlier this week. "When things were getting tough, we always had to remember what we’re aiming for — to get that one seed and put us in the best possible position to win a national championship.”

If UCLA beats Arizona and goes on to win the Pac-12 Tournament as its No. 1 seed next week, the Bruins' goal appears likely. Announced as the eighth overall seed during the NCAA basketball committee’s early reveal on Feb. 18, UCLA hasn’t lost since then while all but three of the teams ahead of them on the overall seed line have lost at least once.

But Bruins coach Mick Cronin, who hinted that politics played a role in the Bruins’ placement in the early reveal because UCLA is leaving for the Big Ten in 2024, isn’t declaring anything at this point.

“I’m not getting into it,” he said after UCLA beat ASU 79-61 on Thursday. “I’d like to be in the West and I’d like for my team to be treated the way they deserve to be treated. That’s all I’ll say on that.”

Likewise, for Arizona, the game has significant NCAA Tournament implications. If the Wildcats beat UCLA on Saturday and then go on to win the Pac-12 Tournament, possibly by beating the Bruins again, they could jump back ahead of UCLA on the overall seed line and get seeded in the West.

With an 8-2 record in Quad 1 opportunities already, Arizona might even be able to argue for the West’s No. 1 seed in that case, too.

But if nothing else, for the Wildcats, Saturday’s game is a chance to continue building momentum for the postseason. Specifically for Tubelis, it’s also about continuing to find himself after putting up his first double-double in five games at USC on Thursday, when he had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead UA to an 87-81 win over the Trojans.

Tubelis also has a chance to erase the memory of Arizona's 75-59 loss at UCLA last season, when he was limited by a significant ankle sprain he suffered five days earlier at Stanford.

“I'm excited,” Tubelis said Thursday. “I'll play hard and we'll try to win the game, make it tough for them.”

It will be a surprise if Jaquez does not match the effort. UCLA’s senior matchup nightmare is expected to be playing his final game at Pauley, though he has his COVID-option year still available, and will get a final chance to state his case in against Tubelis for the Pac-12 Player of the Year honors.

“Best player on the best team in the league,” Cronin said, saying he hoped Jaquez would win Pac-12 POY. “But Tubelis is a great player, he’s had a great year. He’s had some big, monster games for them.”

Maybe Tubelis has another monster game Saturday. Or maybe Jaquez does.

Either way, effort won’t be an issue. For those two, or their their teams.

“It’s two guys that have had great seasons, and they've had both have great college careers,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I imagine it's gonna be a battle and we're looking forward to that opportunity because that's what this time of year is about.

“It’s not about looking for a night off or for an easy game. It's looking for a tough, really good team that’s gonna be a tremendous challenge for us, because that's probably how every game is gonna be for the rest of the season.”

So that’s what’s on the line Saturday. Effectively, if not officially, the postseason has begun for both Arizona and UCLA.

“It’s already kind of like a tournament game,” Tubelis said.

It is March, after all.