Halfcourt Shot Tops UW In Ot
Cameron Dollar’s desperation 3-point shot from just inside the halfcourt line as time expired in overtime - his only field goal of the game - gave No. 17 UCLA a 91-88 victory over Washington on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
“The longer you’re in this game, the crazier things you see,” Huskies (15-11, 8-9) coach Bob Bender said. “It just seemed like the minute it left his hands, it was destined to go in.”
Washington’s Bryant Boston made a short jump shot from the left baseline with 3 seconds left to tie the game before Dollar, who finished with four points, took the inbounds pass, dribbled down the left side and cast off as time was running out.
“I didn’t know how much time I had,” Dollar said, “I just wanted to get the ball downcourt as fast as I could. That’s my first game-winner.”
Kris Johnson scored 30 points and Toby Bailey added 22 for the Bruins (22-7, 15-2 Pac-10), who clinched their second straight outright conference championship when No. 11 Arizona, the conference’s second-place team, lost to Stanford 85-79.
Jamie Booker matched a career high with 17 points for Washington, but could only watch as Dollar beat him for the game-winner.
“What’s the chance of him making that shot?” Booker said. “I just can’t believe it. I tried to get in his way without fouling him, and when he threw it up, I knew we were going into double-overtime.”
Dollar said the Bruins often practice desperation game-winners. “We throw it up there all the time, I never really hit it,” said Dollar, a junior. “This is the first time I’ve ever made a game-winning shot. At the time, I was in a frenzy, trying to get something off. Looking at it in the air, it looked like it was straight. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Boston led UW with 18 points.
UCLA 91, Washington 88, OT
Washington (15-11) - Sanford 5-16 2-2 12, McCulloch 7-10 0-2 14, Hamilton 4-8 3-5 13, Boston 9-18 0-0 18, Booker 6-10 2-2 17, Watts 2-5 3-4 8, Hartman 1-7 3-3 5, Amos 0-2 1-2 1, Femerling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-77 14-20 88.
UCLA (22-7) - O’Bannon 3-7 6-8 12, Johnson 12-18 6-6 30, McCoy 8-12 1-6 17, Bailey 8-12 4-5 22, Dollar 1-3 1-3 4, Dempsey 2-2 0-0 6, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-54 18-28 91.
Halftime-UCLA 36, Washington 35. End of Regulation- Washington 82, UCLA 82. 3-Point goals-Washington 6-15 (Booker 3-5, Hamilton 2-4, Watts 1-1, Bryant 0-1, Sanford 0-2, Hartman 0-2), UCLA 5-7 (Dempsey 2-2, Bailey 2-3, Dollar 1-1, O’Bannon 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Washington 38 (Sanford, Hamilton 8), UCLA 30 (Johnson 9). Assists- Washington 17 (Hamilton 6), UCLA 20 (Dollar 9). Total fouls- Washington 23, UCLA 17. A-11,890.
Stanford 85, (11) Arizona 79
In Tucson, Ariz., Dion Cross burned the Wildcats with a 9-for-9 shooting night, including seven 3-pointers, as Stanford (18-8, 11-6) swept Arizona (23-6, 12-5) for the first time.
“It’s been a long time,” Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. “Like never. This was a tremendously gutsy effort.”
Cross has a history of burning the Wildcats. In the Cardinal’s 80-71 victory over Arizona on Jan. 6 in Palo Alto, Calif., Cross scored a career-high 30 points - also with seven 3-pointers.
“It’s just the way they play,” Cross explained. “There’s no tricks, no triangle-and-ones or stuff like that. When a team plays straight up, I usually get good looks.”
Ben Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona.
Stanford (18-8) - Harbour 5-10 7-9 19, Poppink 0-7 2-2 2, Allaway 5-8 2-3 12, Cross 9-9 2-2 27, Knight 2-7 9-10 14, Sauer 0-3 2-2 2, Lee 2-2 0-0 5, Seaton 2-2 0-0, Weems 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-49 24-28 84.
Arizona (23-6) - McLean 3-8 2-3 9, Williams 8-20 0-0 19, Davis 9-13 7-7 25, Simon 7-12 0-0 16, Geary 1-7 2-2 5, Dickerson 1-6 1-2 3, Terry 1-1 0-0 2, Bramlett 0-0 0-0 0, Eafon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-67 12-14 79.
Halftime-Arizona 39, Stanford 37. 3-Point goals-Stanford 11-17 (Cross 7-7, Harbour 2-3, Knight 1-3, Lee 1-1, Poppink 0-1, Sauer 0-1, Weems 0-1). Arizona 7-21 (Williams 3-7, Simon 2-4, McLean 1-4, Geary 1-4, Dickerson 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Stanford 28 (Poppink 6), Arizona 34 (Davis 10). Assists-Stanford 18 (Knight 11), Arizona 19 (Geary 5). Total fouls-Stanford 15, Arizona 19. A-14,362.
Arizona State 56, Cal 53
In Tempe, Ariz., Ron Riley sank four free throws in the final 52 seconds as the Sun Devils (11-15, 6-11) edged the Golden Bears (17-9, 11-6). ASU rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit for a 52-50 lead on Jeremy Veal’s 15-foot jump shot with 2:54 to play.
Cal’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim made three free throws to put the Bears ahead 53-52 with 1:23 left. Abdur-Rahim fouled Riley 32 seconds later, and Riley put Arizona State ahead by one.
Ed Gray and Randy Duck each had chances to put Cal back ahead in the final 47 seconds, but missed long 3s.
Gray and Abdur-Rahim each scored 15 points for the Golden Bears. Duck finished with 11.
California opened an 18-3 lead with 6:13 left in the first half. ASU missed its first 15 shots from the floor.
“As hard as the season has been and as bad as we’ve been at times, our team just wouldn’t quit even though it looks like it at times,” said Arizona State coach Bill Frieder. “Once we hit the first basket and broke the ice, we were fine.”
The Sun Devils struggled offensively but managed to contain the Golden Bears’ inside game. Abudr-Rahim made only 4 of 12 field-goal attempts.
Cal (17-9) - Gray 4-12 5-6 15, Gonzalez 0-3 1-2 1, AbdurRahim 4-12 7-10 15, McQueen 0-3 2-2 2, Duck 4-7 0-0 11, Fowlkes 1-4 5-6 7, Gardner 0-3 0-0 0, Marks 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 14-49 20-26 53.
ASU (11-15) - Riley 5-20 5-6 16, Zaletel 3-8 0-2 6, Farrington 3-3 2-2 8, Veal 5-15 5-6 17, Holly 0-2 0-0 0, Brewer 2-2 3-8 7, Richardson 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 19-52 15-24 56.
Halftime-California 30, Arizona St. 21. 3-Point Goals- California 5-15 (Duck 3-6, Gray 2-5, Gonzalez 0-1, Gardner 0-1, McQueen 0-2), Arizona St. 3-8 (Veal 2-5, Riley 1-2, Holly 0-1). Fouled Out-Farrington, Richardson. Rebounds-California 38 (Fowlkes 10), Arizona St. 38 (Riley 9, Brewer 9). Assists- California 7 (Gonzalez 2, McGruder 2), Arizona St. 12 (Veal 4). Total Fouls-California 21, Arizona St. 19. A-8,294.