with 6.8 seconds left. But after making the first throw, Campbell’s second rolled off the rim.

Tubelis collected the rebound and split the free throws. Bruin guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. grabbed the rebound and found freshman Dylan Andrews open in the corner. But the potential game winner hit only the rim as Arizona held on, defeating UCLA 61-59 for the second straight year in the Pac-12 championship game.

UCLA began at an immediate disadvantage. Starting center Adem Bona was in street clothes after suffering a left shoulder injury in Friday’s semifinal win over Oregon. He had no sling and UCLA expects him to return next week. But that was of no help to the Bruins in Vegas.

But Bona was replaced admirably by starter Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne.

Nwuba grabbed a couple of early offensive rebounds. When he defended a Ballo shot then drew a charge from the Arizona center after an offensive rebound, Jaquez leaned over Nwuba and yelled encouragement in his face.

Etienne was sturdy on defense, too, blocking a Cedric Henderson floater down the baseline. He recovered well after a pick-and-roll to challenge Henri Veesaar at the rim and grab the defensive rebound.

It was manageable for UCLA when Arizona went with a four-guard lineup. But when the Wildcats deployed their two bigs, it left a Bruin guard to defend the Wildcats’ All-Pac-12 power forward, Tubelis.

If they saw him manned by a guard, the Wildcats quickly lobbed the ball into Tubelis and let him work. At first the Bruins didn’t let him get comfortable in the paint, but he began to wear UCLA out, drawing fouls and finishing at the rim for 16 first-half points.

Despite a lively start fueled by the reactions of a largely pro-Arizona crowd, both teams started the game 1 for 9 from the floor. Amari Bailey hit that lone shot for UCLA and scored six of the Bruins’ first nine points.

The freshman guard helped the Bruins overcome the Wildcats’ punishing basketball. Bailey slalomed through defenders to the rim, using a double-clutch move at the basket to give the fiesty Bruins a 34-33 lead at halftime.

And his best highlight, a one-handed dunk that would have been one of UCLA’s best plays of the season, was waved off for a push-off call that left Coach Mick Cronin fuming on the sideline.

Like his teammates, Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaquez was getting more rim than net to start the game, missing six of seven shots. He was getting to his spots, but either was off target or got blocked at the rim.

But he made his last two shots of the first half, once driving past Tubelis and drawing a foul as he finished off the backboard. After bumping his head against the base of the basket, he completed the three-point play.

That gave him enough confidence to hit his first two shots of the second half, and then suddenly he was everywhere. Stripping the ball from Tubelis, blocking the Arizona big man’s transition layup, hitting free throws.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that as Jaquez played at this level and elicited “MVP” from the UCLA student section, the Bruin lead grew to nine. But it was too much to ask the depleted Bruins to maintain that energy.

Trouble began as the Bruins were building up their lead. Nwuba drew his third foul in the first minute of the second half, and Etienne replaced him while playing with three himself. At the 12:31, Nwuba fouled Ballo on a layup and left the court again. Etienne picked up his fourth 30 seconds later, then his fifth with 9:35 to play.

Ballo’s two free throws after that fifth foul got Arizona within one, and the Wildcat fans began to sense blood in the water, rising to their feet. When Pelle Larsson knocked down a 3 out of a timeout, the Wildcats had retaken the lead.

The Bruins didn’t fade away. Bailey drove for a couple layups and Tyger Campbell hit a pair of free throws. The Wildcats countered.

But then Nwuba fouled out with 4:27 left, and UCLA had to switch to a five-guard lineup. The Bruins fought admirably to the end.