Arizona State suffered a 59-47 loss at UCLA in Los Angeles on Saturday night after the sudden departure of senior forward Jose Perez before the game, which was the last Pac-12 regular-season matchup in the conference’s history.
The Pac-12 is disbanding and included with that is Arizona State headed to the Big 12 and UCLA to the Big Ten.
Perez, who scored 25 points in a loss at USC on Thursday, left the program for personal reasons and is expected to pursue professional opportunities, according to an Arizona State spokesperson.
Arizona State (14-17, 8-12 Pac-12) has lost five of its last six games.
UCLA (15-16, 10-10) snapped a five-game losing streak.
The Bruins’ Adem Bona had 14 of his team-high 20 points in the first half. He also had 12 rebounds and four steals for the game. Lazar Stefanovic had 16 points while making 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Dylan Andrews added 12 points and six assists.
Arizona State was led by Adam Miller’s 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Miller was 5 of 16 from the field and 3 of 11 from beyond the arc.
Jamiya Neal had 12 points and eight rebounds and Frankie Collins finished with 10 points.
UCLA took a 23-13 lead in the first half following an 18-0 run that included 12 points from Bona.
Arizona State responded by outscoring the Bruins 18-4 the rest of the half to take a 31-27 lead at halftime.
Neal had eight points in that stretch.
The Sun Devils built a 42-33 lead in the second half with 13:03 remaining before UCLA went on a 19-2 run.
Arizona State went through a 2-for-14 stretch from the field in the last 15:40 of the game.
Bryant Selebangue’s layup (his lone attempt of the game) with 48 seconds left ended a field-goal drought of 12:15 for Arizona State.
The Sun Devils were 5 of 22 (22.7 percent) from the field in the second half after shooting 13 of 26 in the first half.
They also tallied 15 turnovers in the game compared to nine assists.
–Field Level Media