No. 10 UCLA wins ninth in row
LOS ANGELES – Darren Collison scored 18 points, Nikola Dragovic added 14 in his first start of the season and No. 10 UCLA held off Southern California 64-60 on Sunday night to win its ninth in a row.
The Bruins (13-2, 3-0 Pac-10) have won all three meetings at the Galen Center since the arena opened. Jrue Holiday added 13 points and Josh Shipp 10.
Freshman DeMar DeRozan scored 11 of his career-high 15 points in the first half for the Trojans (10-5, 1-2). Taj Gibson added 13 points while playing the second half with three fouls and Daniel Hackett also had 13.
USC blew a five-point lead in the second half.
They were coming off a 62-58 overtime loss at Oregon State in which the Trojans led by 15 points in the second half. UCLA opened Pac-10 play by sweeping the Oregon schools on the road.
Gibson, USC’s leading scorer and double-figure rebounder, was limited to six minutes in the first half after picking up his third foul. He fouled out late.
USC took its first lead on a fastbreak layup by Dwight Lewis early in the second half. It was part of a 12-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Hackett and gave the Trojans a 43-37 lead with 15:19 remaining.
Collison’s school-record consecutive free throw streak ended at 43 when he missed the first after being fouled at 14:37. About that time, the momentum swung back to UCLA.
The Bruins outscored USC 16-8 to regain the lead, 53-51, on Collison’s jumper that beat the shot clock. Dragovic and Shipp hit consecutive 3-pointers in the run and Shipp hit a tying free throw.
Gibson tied it again at 53 on a layup, then Shipp turned the ball over when he stepped out of bounds in the corner. The Bruins led 58-53 on a jumper by Holiday and a 3-pointer by Dragovic.
Hackett’s 3-pointer got the Trojans to 58-56 before Dragovic made 3 of 4 free throws for a 61-56 lead with 2:16 left.
Gibson’s layup put the Trojans within three with 1 1/2 minutes to go, but Lewis missed a jumper and Dragovic grabbed the defensive rebound.
Shipp hit two free throws and Collison made 1-of-2 in the closing seconds.