Collison leads Bruins to win over Wildcats
Darren Collison scored 17 points and added a career-high 15 assists as No. 5 UCLA defeated No. 19 Arizona 81-66 Saturday afternoon in Tucson, Ariz.
The victory kept the Bruins in first place in the Pac-10, one game ahead of Washington State.
Josh Shipp tied a career high with 24 points for UCLA, which defeated Arizona for the fifth straight time. The Bruins scored the game’s first six points and never trailed. Leading 35-34 at halftime, the Bruins hit 8 of 15 3-pointers in the second half to take command of the game.
Collison hit 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.
It was the second-worst home loss in Lute Olson’s 24-year tenure at Arizona. The worst was a 92-64 loss to then-No. 4 North Carolina on Jan. 27.
Playing in his final home game, Mustafa Shakur scored 17 points for the Wildcats, who lost five home games for the first time since 1986-87. The Wildcats lost a total of three games in McKale Center from November 1987 to December 1994.
Arizona fell to 4-14 against ranked opponents over the past two seasons. The Bruins are 8-1 against the Top 25 this season.
UCLA jumped out to a 23-11 lead 8 minutes into the game. But Shakur hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run to tie it at 23.
UCLA answered with a 7-0 run, with Shipp hitting a 15-footer and a 3-pointer, to go ahead 30-23. But Arizona scored the final seven points of the half to pull within 35-34 at intermission.
The Bruins responded by scoring 10 of the first 14 points of the second half. The barrage began with 3-pointers by Collison and Shipp. The Wildcats came no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Stanford 88, (15) Oregon 69: At Stanford, Calif., Brook Lopez scored a career-high 26 points and keyed a big second-half run that helped the Cardinal beat the Ducks for the 21st consecutive time at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal wrapped up their 14th straight home sweep against the Oregon schools and gave their NCAA tournament hopes a big boost with their fifth win of the season against a ranked opponent.
The Ducks’ once solid tournament credentials took a hit after being swept in the Bay Area by California and Stanford for the seventh straight season.
Oregon has lost six of eight games overall and will try to recover with three home games to end the season.
The Ducks went on a 9-2 run to open the second half and take their first lead since the opening minutes. The game stayed closed until Lopez sparked a 15-0 run for Stanford midway through the half that put the Cardinal up 74-56.
Lopez blocked Maarty Leunen and then scored on the other end to make it 63-56. After a basket by Lawrence Hill, Lopez scored seven straight points with a long jumper, a three-point play and a dunk.
The Ducks were held scoreless for 6:38 during the run, including two missed free throws by Malik Hairston.
California 84, Oregon State 80 (OT): At Berkeley, Calif., freshman forward Patrick Christopher scored 24 points to lead the Golden Bears to a victory against the Beavers.
The game almost ended in a 71-68 Cal victory as the buzzer sounded. But OSU was given another 2.3 seconds when the officials decided the clock had started early on the Beavers’ final possession.
Cal deflected the Beavers’ first inbounds pass, giving OSU just 1.4 seconds.
But Angelo Tsagarakis caught the next inbounds pass and let a 3-pointer fly just before the buzzer sounded to tie the game and set up the OT.
But the Bears came out hot in overtime to secure the win.