Huskies lose at buzzer

LOS ANGELES – The Huskies thought they had shaken the road woes and broken their spell at Pauley Pavilion when Venoy Overton raced the length of the court and sank a go-ahead layup with 3.2 seconds left.

UCLA, however, had other plans.

Bruins junior guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid got the ball at the top of the key. He pump-faked, which drew Overton and Darnell Gant in the air. Then Abdul-Hamid hit the biggest shot of his life, a long jumper that splashed through the net as time expired, giving UCLA an improbable 62-61 victory Thursday night.

Coach Lorenzo Romar nearly dropped to his knees and buried his head along the table on the sideline as Bruins fans tried to rush the court.

The Huskies (12-6, 3-4 in Pac-10) had seen this before. Texas Tech scored what seemed like a long jumper in regulation at the buzzer.

Just like before, officials reviewed the replays. Unlike before, the referees declared that Abdul-Hamid’s shot was good.

Quincy Pondexter had 23 points and Isaiah Thomas 11 for the Huskies.

A driving thunderstorm that’s dumped rain on Los Angeles for days may have attributed to the sparse turnout at Pauley Pavilion. Or maybe fans have grown tired of the Bruins (8-10, 3-3), which have fallen on hard times and dropped to the bottom of the Pac-10 standings after years of dominating the conference.

Two statistical trends worked against Washington before the start.

The Huskies had lost their previous four road games this season by an average of 12.3 points. And UW had a 3-43 record against the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion and a 6-58 record in Los Angeles.

Point guard Jerime Anderson (hip flexor) and center J’Mison Morgan (strained quad) sat out for the short-handed Bruins.

Washington weathered an early 6-0 deficit and led 32-25 midway in the first half. UCLA stymied UW’s offense at times with a 2-3 zone that limited scoring chances in the middle and forced the Huskies outside.

UW entered the contest last in the Pac-10 in three-point shooting percentage, but converted 6 of 12 attempts behind the arc in the first half to take a 41-37 lead into the break.

Despite the Huskies’ marksmanship, the Bruins stayed in the zone, which gave the Huskies fits.

With less than 15 minutes left in the second half, UW had scored just eight points after intermission and trailed 59-52.

UCLA 62, Washington 61

 Washington (12-6, 3-4) -Holiday 2-4 2-2 6, Thomas 4-11 3-4 11, Gaddy 1-3 0-1 2, Pondexter 7-13 5-5 23, Breshers 1-2 0-0 2, Bryan-Amaning 0-0 0-0 0, Overton 2-4 0-0 4, Turner 2-6 0-0 5, Suggs 3-6 0-0 8, Gant 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 10-12 61.

UCLA (8-10, 3-3)- Lee 3-6 6-8 13, Honeycutt 4-4 0-0 10, Roll 2-7 4-7 8, Keefe 0-0 0-0 0, Dragovic 4-8 3-4 11, Lane 0-0 0-0 0, Abdul-Hamid 2-3 0-0 4, Nelson 6-11 4-7 16. Totals 21-39 17-26 62.

Halftime—Washington 41-37. 3-Point Goals—Washington 7-19 (Pondexter 4-4, Suggs 2-5, Turner 1-3, Holiday 0-1, Overton 0-1, Thomas 0-5), UCLA 3-9 (Honeycutt 2-2, Lee 1-2, Abdul-Hamid 0-1, Roll 0-2, Dragovic 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Washington 27 (Pondexter 6), UCLA 26 (Honeycutt 8). Assists—Washington 13 (Gaddy, Overton 4), UCLA 12 (Honeycutt 4). Total Fouls—Washington 20, UCLA 15. A—6,503.