For one, it was a near-buzzer beater 3-pointer and a last-second steal that clinched the Bruins’ takedown of Arizona State and elevated the once last-place Bruins into a tie for the first place in the Pac-12.

For the other, it was a record-setting barrage of 3-pointers eight weeks earlier that not only ended UCLA’s three-game losing streak but kicked off Pac-12 play with a win.

Despite being two of the youngest players on the team, true freshmen Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jake Kyman have provided clutch performances when their team needed them most.

Riding a seven-game winning streak with a chance to claim the top seed for next week’s Pac-12 Tournament, the Bruins (19-11 overall, 12-5 Pac-12) need these two to continue doing just that.

THE BUZZER-BEATER DREAMER

The minute Jaquez took the pass from point guard Tyger Campbell, all he needed was one dribble. He got the ball in his left hand, planted his feet and jumped to release the long-range shot.

Swish.

“Jaime was just so open and I knew he was going to hit it,” Campbell said after the Feb. 27 game. “It was when it left his hands.”

With 0.6 seconds remaining and the Bruins holding a 75-72 lead over Arizona State, the Pauley Pavilion crowd erupted, the most electric the arena had been all season.

But through all the noise, all Jaquez could think about was the younger version of himself practicing that shot over and over again at Pitts Ranch Park in Camarillo.

Those long summer days, when he’d get up early to meet his friends and play pickup games and shoot around. He’d somehow get the ball from a teammate and make his way to the 3-point arc as the countdown began.

Three. Two. One. Shoot. The crowd of imaginary people watching would go wild, chanting his name in praise.

Fast forward to 19-year-old Jaquez and that moment, that imaginary dream, was real.

“That’s something you dream about a lot,” Jaquez said in the postgame press conference that night. “To do it tonight, it was amazing. It was an unreal feeling.”

Seven games into the Bruins’ season on Nov. 26, in their game against Chaminade, Jaquez showed why he was ranked the No. 8 recruit in California by ESPN in the 2019 class. In a team-leading 30 minutes, he led all scorers with 17 points and added a game-high 12 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double.

From that game on, he’s started in 22 of UCLA’s 23 games and leads the team with 43 steals.

“He plays hard like an older player and he’s like a veteran, old tough guy – and he’s a freshman,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said last month. “I don’t know where we would have been without him.”

THE 3-POINT MACHINE

While he hasn’t got the starting nod just yet, Kyman is one of UCLA’s greatest weapons off the bench.

Whether the Bruins are down by double digits or can’t get a shot to fall, in an almost effortless manner, Kyman comes to the rescue doing what he does best: draining 3-pointers.

With 15 lead changes and the Bruins within one point of Washington with less than nine seconds left, Kyman sank his seventh 3-pointer of the night against the Huskies, sealing the 66-64 win to open Pac-12 play in Seattle.

The freshman scored a team-best and career-high 21 points after going 7 for 12 from deep that night, setting UCLA’s single-game record for most 3-pointers by a freshman.

“He’s a huge part of our team, huge piece, especially when he gets those (3-pointers) going, it’s a lot of fun to watch,” Jaquez said. “He’s not a guy to miss a lot of shots.”

While Jaquez’s last-second 3-pointer clinched the win for UCLA over ASU last week, it was Kyman’s five 3-pointers – three in a row – that revived the Bruins after a shooting slump in the first half. Kyman’s 19 points at halftime marked the most from any Bruin this season in an opening half and left ASU coach Bobby Hurley comparing him to Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird.

The guard/forward is second on the team with 30 3-pointers, but he is shooting a team-best 40 percent behind the arc.

The breakout performance in Seattle proved to Kyman that he belonged. Growing up in Aliso Viejo, the Kymans frequently went to UCLA basketball games – especially since Kyman’s mom, Michelle, played volleyball for UCLA.

“I was always just a UCLA basketball fan,” he said. “I never really thought I was going to be able to play here, I mean it was just a dream. Then around high school, when they started recruiting me, I was like, ‘Wow, they think I’m good enough to actually go there,’ and I could fulfill my dream.”

—– UCLA (19-11, 12-5) at USC (21-9, 10-7) —–

When: Saturday, 12:15 p.m.

Where: Galen Center

TV/Radio: CBS/Ch. 2 / 570 AM