Dollar’s 3-Pointers Make Huskies Pay

Pac-10

Cameron Dollar, UCLA’s most reluctant shooter, didn’t hesitate to put up two 3-pointers in an 18-5 run that bailed out the Bruins Saturday in Los Angeles.

Dollar connected on both shots and UCLA rallied for a 79-70 victory over Washington.

Even though he’s gone from starting point guard to reserve in three of the last four games, Dollar’s value has never diminished. He routinely shoots 500 jumpers in practice, anticipating that it would help him in games.

“I’m glad all his hard work is finally paying off, and he’s showing everyone he can shoot,” said Toby Bailey, who has run the offense in Dollar’s absence as a starter.

“Repetition is what gives you confidence,” said Dollar, who finished with a career-high 16 points. “Keep working and good things happen.”

The Bruins (7-3) have won six of their last seven games, including a 2-0 start to the Pacific-10 Conference season.

Their eighth straight victory over the Huskies (7-3, 0-2) didn’t come easily. It was a two-point game for much of the second half.

However, the two-time Pac-10 champion Bruins used their 18-5 spurt to take a 72-61 lead with 2:51 to play.

Dollar scored 11 in the burst, including consecutive 3-pointers. Bailey closed out the run with UCLA’s third straight 3-pointer moments after drawing an offensive foul on Jamie Booker.

“Cameron Dollar is just a tremendous story,” interim UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. “He may not be pretty, but he’s a winner. He comes up big. His leadership means more than anything that’s happened in the last few weeks.”

Washington answered with seven straight points, including four by Booker, to close to 72-68 with 59 seconds remaining.

But Dollar and Kris Johnson combined to hit three of four free throws and keep the Bruins ahead 75-68 with 37 seconds to go.

“We don’t play Dollar any differently,” said Washington coach Bob Bender, who is 0-7 against UCLA in his four-year tenure. “We want to force him to shoot the basketball. We wanted to keep the ball far away from the basket.”

J.R. Henderson led the Bruins with 18 points. Charles O’Bannon, who had a key block of 7-foot Huskies center Todd MacCulloch after Jelani McCoy picked up his fourth foul in the closing minutes, added 14.

Dollar was also the hero against Washington last season at Pauley Pavilion, where his desperation shot beat the buzzer in overtime.

Mark Sanford led the Huskies with 26 points. Booker added 14.

“We weren’t mentally prepared for USC,” Sanford said of Washington’s 77-58 drubbing Thursday. “Today, we really played well against the conference champions. UCLA played tougher on defense in the second half, and tried to take me out of the offense.”

UCLA 79, Washington 70

Washington (7-3) - Sanford 9-15 6-6 26, MacCulloch 4-5 1-2 9, Watts 1-3 0-3 2, Thompson 2-5 1-2 5, Booker 5-15 3-7 14, Femerling 2-4 3-4 7, Wooten 2-4 0-0 5, Luton 0-3 0-0 0, Walcott 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-55 14-24 70.

UCLA (7-3) - O’Bannon 6-11 1-1 14, Henderson 5-10 8-10 18, McCoy 3-4 1-6 7, Johnson 2-8 7-8 11, Bailey 4-7 4-4 13, Dollar 6-9 2-3 16, Loyd 0-0 0-0 0, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 23-32 79.

Halftime-Washington 38, UCLA 36. 3-Point goals-Washington 4-12 (Sanford 2-3, Wooten 1-1, Booker 1-6, Watts 0-1, Luton 0-1), UCLA 4-9 (Dollar 2-2, Bailey 1-2, O’Bannon 1-3, Johnson 0-2). Fouled out-Femerling. Rebounds-Washington 31 (Sanford 10), UCLA 28 (O’Bannon, Henderson 7 each). Assists-Washington 15 (Thompson 7), UCLA 16 (Bailey 8). Total fouls-Washington 23, UCLA 17. Technicals-McCoy. A-9,584.

(9) Arizona 76, (21) Stanford 75

Bennett Davison’s tap-in with 6 seconds remaining lifted the Wildcats (9-2, 2-0 Pac-10) past the Cardinal (8-2, 1-1) at Tucson, Ariz., for their second straight one-point victory in the final seconds.

Arizona had led by as many as 14 points in the second half but trailed Stanford 75-72 with 1:53 to play.

Davison, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, tapped in a missed jumper with 37 seconds left to bring the Wildcats within 75-74.

Stanford center Tim Young missed the front end of a 1-and-1 10 seconds later and Arizona, which beat California 81-80 Thursday night on two free throws by Michael Bibby with 3.6 seconds left, set up for the winning play.

Reserve guard Jason Lee’s jumper from the corner baseline bounced off the rim and high into the air and Davison leaped to tap in the ball with his right hand.

Brevin Knight, who made three of Stanford’s six 3-pointers over the final 8:30, drove to the hoop but his layup bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Stanford, which was trying to duplicate its 85-70 win here last March 7 - the school’s first at McKale Center since Feb. 4, 1984, and Arizona’s last homecourt loss since.

Michael Dickerson finished with 21 points for Arizona while Jason Terry had 13, all in the first half.

Knight finished with 17 points for the Cardinal, while Kris Weems and Young each had 12.

Young, who entered the game as Stanford’s leading scorer with a 17.4-point average, was held to two points in a first half that saw 30 fouls called including 19 in the first 10 minutes.

Stanford (8-2) - Sauer 2-4 1-2 5, Jackson 4-5 0-0 10, Young 4-8 4-7 12, Weems 4-8 1-2 12, Knight 6-17 2-4 17, A.Lee 0-2 2-2 2, Moseley 1-2 0-0 2, Mendez 0-1 2-2 2, Van Elswyk 3-5 0-0 6, Seaton 0-0 1-2 1, Madsen 1-4 4-6 6. Totals 25-56 17-27 75.

Arizona (9-2) - Davison 6-12 4-7 16, Dickerson 8-21 4-7 21, Bramlett 3-6 2-4 8, Bibby 1-3 1-2 4, Terry 3-8 6-7 13, Harris 2-5 2-2 6, Ash 0-0 0-0 0, Edgerson 0-0 0-0 0, J.Lee 2-3 3-3 8. Totals 25-63 22-32 76.

Halftime-Arizona 40, Stanford 31. 3-Point goals-Stanford 8-21 (Knight 3-7, Weems 3-7, Jackson 2-3, Sauer 0-1, A.Lee 0-1, Moseley 0-1, Mendez 0-1), Arizona 4-13 (Bibby 1-2, Terry 1-2, Dickerson 1-3, J.Lee 1-6). Fouled out- Bibby. Rebounds-Stanford 40 (Madsen 8), Arizona 37 (Davison 12). Assists- Stanford 13 (Knight 7), Arizona 14 (Terry 6). Total fouls-Stanford 25, Arizona 23. A-14,342.

(20) Oregon 91, Oregon State 69

Kyle Milling matched his career high with 20 points, 15 in the second half, as the Ducks (10-0, 1-0) rolled over the Beavers (4-6, 0-1) in a conference opener at Corvallis.

Jamal Lawrence, out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, came off the bench to make three quick 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, 16 in the first half.

Kenya Wilkins added 11 points and nine assists. Terik Brown also scored 11 for the Ducks.

Oregon matched the fast start of its 1974-75 season. The Ducks’ all-time best start was 14-0 in the 1926-27 season.

Ron Grady, one of five freshmen who play regularly for Oregon State’s young Beavers, scored a career-high 16 points. Corey Benjamin, another freshman, added 15 points and seven rebounds but was just 6 for 15 from the field.

Oregon (10-0) - Madden 3-8 2-6 8, Curry 4-8 0-0 9, Milling 8-13 4-7 20, Wilkins 4-8 0-0 11, Ramaker 2-5 0-0 4, McShane 1-1 0-0 2, Lawrence 8-11 0-0 20, Brown 4-6 2-3 11, Carson 0-0 0-0 0, Larry 1-1 2-2 4, Nelson 0-0 0-2 0, McKelvey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 36-62 10-20 91.

Oregon State (4-6) - Woods 2-5 1-4 5, S.Benjamin 0-2 0-1 0, Grady 7-11 0-0 16, C.Benjamin 6-15 2-5 15, Cunningham 4-10 4-4 12, Bickerstaff 2-4 2-3 6, Knight 1-2 0-4 2, Vaden 1-4 0-0 3, Petrovic 2-3 0-0 6, Marshall 0-1 1-2 1, Rose 1-1 1-1 3, Riggs 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Pryor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 11-24 69.

Halftime-Oregon 41, Oregon St. 33. 3-Point goals-Oregon 9-20 (Lawrence 4-7, Wilkins 3-6, Curry 1-2, Brown 1-3, Madden 0-2), Oregon St. 6-18 (Petrovic 2-2, Grady 2-3, Vaden 1-3, C.Benjamin 1-4, Edwards 0-1, S.Benjamin 0-2, Cunningham 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Oregon 38 (Madden 6), Oregon St. 34 (C.Benjamin 7). Assists-Oregon 24 (Wilkins 9), Oregon St. 15 (Cunningham 5). Total fouls-Oregon 21, Oregon St. 19. A-10,400.

Arizona St. 64, California 60

Jeremy Veal sank four free throws in the final 1:28 as the Sun Devils (8-5, 1-1), rallied to beat the Golden Bears (9-4, 0-2) at Tempe, Ariz.

Mike Batiste scored 17 points to lead the Sun Devils, who snapped a two-game losing streak, and Gee Gervin and Veal added 13 points each.

Randy Duck scored 17 points for California, which lost its second consecutive close game. Sean Marks added 12.

Duck’s third 3-pointer of the second half gave California a 50-41 lead with 10:28 remaining. But Veal, whose streak of 43 consecutive starts was snapped when he was benched by Arizona State coach Bill Frieder, scored five points to key a 14-4 run and give the Sun Devils a 55-54 lead with 4:24 to play.

California regained the lead, 60-57, on Marks’ dunk with 2:42 to play. But Marks’ foul with 2:23 remaining allowed Batiste to complete a three-point play that tied the game, and Veal added a pair of free throws to give the Sun Devils a 62-60 lead with 1:28 to play.

California (9-4) - Gray 3-13 0-0 7, Marks 6-9 0-0 12, Stewart 2-7 1-3 5, Duck 6-11 0-2 17, McGruder 2-2 0-0 4, Grigsby 2-6 0-0 4, McQueen 2-5 0-0 6, Jones 1-5 3-4 5, Gonzalez 0-2 0-1 0, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 24-61 4-10 60.

Arizona State (8-5) - Batiste 6-12 5-5 17, Kelly 2-3 0-0 4, Farrington 3-6 2-5 8, Gervin 5-13 0-1 13, House 2-10 0-0 4, Richardson 0-3 0-0 0, Veal 2-5 8-10 13, Lewis 2-3 0-0 5, Oziwo 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-55 15-21 64.

Halftime-Arizona St. 28, California 25. 3-Point Goals-California 8-21 (Duck 5-9, McQueen 2-4, Gray 1-7, Jackson 0-1), Arizona St. 5-17 (Gervin 3-8, Veal 1-1, Lewis 1-1, Batiste 0-3, House 0-4). Fouled Out-Marks, McGruder. Rebounds-California 44 (Marks, Stewart 8), Arizona St. 32 (Batiste 7). Assists-California 22 (McGruder 10), Arizona St. 19 (Gervin 4). Total Fouls- California 22, Arizona St. 13. Technicals-McGruder, Lewis. A-4,827.

, DataTimes