BERKELEY – If UCLA’s postseason fate wasn’t already tethered to winning the Pac-12 Tournament, it almost certainly is now.
Bryce Alford and Tony Parker scored 15 apiece and Isaac Hamilton added 12 points Thursday night, but they could not complete a late comeback attempt against a Cal team that remains unbeaten at home, losing 75-63.
The Pac-12 might very well get seven teams into the NCAA Tournament’s 68-team field, but the Bruins (15-13, 6-9 Pac-12) have lost four of six games in February to fall into the bottom half of the conference standings. Any hope for an at-large berth seems slim at best, meaning the Bruins’ only path to the NCAAs is likely to require winning the conference tournament and the automatic berth that comes with it.