UCLA stuns Arizona with dramatic 3-pointer

As a kid, Bryce Alford would have his mother count down from five and he’d try to make a last-second shot in the family driveway.

With much more at stake, the junior hit a winning 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left, lifting UCLA to an 87-84 victory over No. 7 Arizona on Thursday night for the Bruins’ first Pac-12 win after opening conference play with consecutive road losses.

“A huge game,” Alford said. “If we lose this, we’re 0-3 to start the year and that’s a hard hole to come out of.”

Alford finished with 25 points. After winning the game, he walked by former Bruin and Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook, who was on his feet yelling.

“I hit the shot, turned around and he was just screaming at me,” said Alford, who wore giveaway eyeglass frames in honor of Westbrook. “He’s one of us.”

Aaron Holiday added 15 points, Isaac Hamilton had 14 points and Tony Parker had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Bruins. They lost to the Washington schools last weekend, when Alford had just nine points in the loss to Washington State.

“If Bryce Alford had a different last name and played for a different school the accolades he would get nationally would be far more than he gets right now playing for his dad at UCLA,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “I don’t think he gets nearly enough credit. He dominated the game – 25 points, six assists and no turnovers.”

Alford hit five 3-pointers and Hamilton added three of UCLA’s 11 – a season-high against the Wildcats.

Ryan Anderson had 15 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Wildcats, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Allonzo Trier added 13 points and Kaleb Tarczewski had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his second game back from a foot injury.

Miller was irate with his team for being lazy on defense.

“This is the worst defensive team that I’ve coached at Arizona since my first year,” he said. “The last shot of the game is a reflection of that. We didn’t switch Kaleb Tarczewski onto Bryce Alford. You literally have to be out of your mind to do that. But we did our own thing on the last play and he took the easiest shot he’s ever taken in Pauley Pavilion on a game-winner.”

The Bruins opened the second half with a 16-9 run to go ahead 59-45. They ran off 10 straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Alford and Hamilton, for their largest lead of the game.

Arizona tied it at 83 on a three-point play by Kadeem Allen, capping a 10-0 run in the closing two minutes. Allen easily got by UCLA big man Thomas Welsh for a dunk after Trier hit a 3-pointer in the spurt.

Hamilton got fouled, missing the first and making the second for an 84-83 lead. Hamilton fouled Anderson on a drive, and he made the first and missed the second, tying the game at 84 with 14 seconds to go.

USC 75, Arizona State 65: Julian Jacobs scored 15 points, Bennie Boatwright added 14 and the Trojans held off a furious rally to beat the Sun Devils in Los Angeles.

The Trojans led by as many as 17 in the second half before the Sun Devils rallied to cut it to 65-63 with 1:01 to go. A two-handed dunk on a fastbreak by Chimeze Metu halted the Sun Devils rally and started a 10-2 USC run in the final minute to secure the win.

The Trojans surpassed their win total from all of last season with the victory. They went 12-20 in 2014-15.

Metu and Reinhardt added nine points apiece for USC and Darion Clark pulled down 10 rebounds.

Tra Holder scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half to lead ASU’s rally. Willie Atwood and Andre Speight added 11 points each for the Sun Devils.