Tubelis' resurgence, Boswell's maturation, and more takeaways from Arizona basketball's weekend split in Los Angeles

Had the Wildcats’ early 13-2 lead held up in an eventual 82-73 loss to UCLA on Saturday, the Wildcats might have move back ahead of the Bruins for the right to stay in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region. But splitting a pair of Quad 1 games over the weekend probably won’t drop them far down the overall NCAA seed line, if anything.

Arizona’s NET rating remained at No. 11 after Saturday’s game and ESPN’s latest bracket projection actually moved the Wildcats up a spot to No. 2 in the Midwest region, although CBS knocked UA down to a No. 3 in the East.

The Wildcats, who beat USC this past Thursday, also have the Pac-12 Tournament ahead to slide up a bit, starting with a game against either Utah or Stanford in the quarterfinals later this week.

Not that any of that is of consolation to UA coach Tommy Lloyd.

“Well, we’re Arizona basketball,” Lloyd said. “We try to win every game. I don’t try to justify anything with that stuff.”

Even though the Wildcats had won only two of their previous eight games in Los Angeles, Lloyd said he wasn’t looking at a split as anything to feel good about, either.

With those high standards in mind, here’s five things the Wildcats learned from the weekend:

1. Tubelis couldn’t gain ground on Jaquez

Despite averaging 24.5 points and 10.0 rebounds against USC and UCLA while shooting 63.3% combined in the two games, standout Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis probably remains behind UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the race for Pac-12 Player of the Year.

That’s because Jaquez averaged 24.0 points and 8.5 rebounds over the weekend while shooting 47.2% from the field — and leading the Bruins to a conference championship they won outright by four games over second-place Arizona and USC.

While media votes for Pac-12 preseason and player of the week awards, the league’s 12 coaches vote for the season-ending honors. And the league’s coaches have historically given their vote to the best player on the best team if the race is statistically close.

Tubelis finished the regular season leading the Pac-12 in scoring and rebounding, both overall (19.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and in conference games (20.0, 9.5).

Jaquez averaged 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds overall and 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in conference play.

But Jaquez is considered a better defender, finished the season on a stronger note and is holding a conference title.

“They’re both great players,” Lloyd said. “UCLA won the league by three or four games so I would imagine Jaquez had a good shot at MVP. He’s worthy. He’s had a great career.

“You could make a good case for Zu as well. He had a tremendous year for us. But to the champion goes the spoils, so to speak.”

Sitting on UCLA’s postgame interview podium alongside Jaquez and guard Tyger Campbell, Bruins guard David Singleton made his voice clear.

“He should be Pac-12 Player of the Year. I think he should be National Player of the Year, all the player of the year awards,” Singleton said. “We couldn’t have done it without Jaime Jaquez Jr. right here.”

2. But Tubelis is back in top form.

Regardless of the Player of the Year voting, more important for Arizona is that Tubelis is back in his old form. He put up two huge games in Los Angeles after struggling during the previous four: Tubelis’ woes started when he hit early foul trouble at Stanford on Feb. 11, then he kicked a ball into the Zona Zoo to pick up a technical and more foul trouble on Feb. 16 against Utah.

Tubelis went on to average 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds against Colorado and ASU, but it wasn’t until last week that Lloyd began to see Tubelis back with “a spring in his step” during pregame work on Thursday.

It still isn’t clear if Tubelis was hesitant to be aggressive because of his foul troubles, or if the pressure of increased expectations wore on him over the past month. But something was weighing on him.

“I don’t want to speculate,” Lloyd said after Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead UA to an 87-81 win over USC on Thursday. “I just know that we coached him the same, he’s a great guy, and he’s a human being. He’s gonna have ups and downs. So it was just fun to watch him play the way he does, because when he plays that way, he’s a great, great player.”

3. Kylan Boswell isn’t 17 anymore.

Actually, he still is until April. But Boswell had his most impactful weekend yet as the Wildcats’ seventh man, indicating he may have grown into his role as a major contributor for a high-major team, just in time for UA’s postseason run.

Against both USC and UCLA, Boswell collected 14 points, two rebounds and two assists and he turned turning the ball over only once all weekend, against the Trojans. He also hit 9 of 12 field goals including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, giving the Wildcats a particular boost in the second half Saturday when Pelle Larsson was in foul trouble.

“He’s getting better,” Lloyd said. “He’s getting some battle scars and that’s a huge part of development. And we all know he’s a special player. He’s really helping his team and we’re all comfortable when he’s on the court.”

Having missed the offseason and the bulk of preseason practices with a broken foot, Boswell started off slowly but has been a more consistent contributor over the second half of the season.

“I’ve put in the work, so I’ve always felt confidence,” Boswell said. “I’m just getting more and more comfortable.”

4. Arizona could see the Trojans and Bruins again real soon.

As the No. 2 Pac-12 Tournament seed, Arizona will face third-seeded USC in the conference tournament semifinals at 9:30 p.m. on Friday if the Wildcats and Trojans win their quarterfinal games on Thursday.

The winner of that game would then face the Bruins or somebody else from the other side of the bracket in the championship game Saturday night, meaning the Wildcats just might have a rubber-match opportunity with UCLA after the teams each won on their home courts.

“If everything falls into place, we could see them again in the ‘chip,” Boswell said. “We would love to get a rematch but it’s one game at a time. ...”

5. ... and that’s not just a cliché.

In Arizona’s case, the Wildcats really might want to look at it one game at a time. Because both Stanford and Utah have beaten them already this season — Utah winning 81-66 in the Pac-12 opener back on Dec. 1 and Stanford handing them an 88-79 loss on Feb. 11 at Maples Pavilion.

Boswell indicated after Saturday’s game that he’s already caught that vibe.

“It was just to take care of business,” Boswell said of Lloyd’s postgame message Saturday. “I know everybody’s gonna be locked in for practice. Everybody’s gonna be watching the film. We’re taking everything more serious.”