No. 9 UCLA Bounces Back

Ninth-ranked UCLA led wire to wire and held off a second-half rally from visiting Washington to snap a two-game losing streak with a 70-61 win Thursday in Los Angeles.

The Bruins (18-4, 9-2 Pac-12), who had won 14 straight before the back-to-back losses, pounced on the Huskies early. UCLA scored the first eight points and held Washington without a point for the opening 3:37. The Bruins’ lead swelled to 18 points and was 16 at intermission.

Washington (13-11, 5-8) whittled the deficit down to six in the second half, with Keion Brooks Jr. sinking a 3-pointer late that pulled the Huskies to within 67-61. Brooks scored a game-high 23 points.

But Washington did not score again. Adem Bona blocked Brooks on the Huskies’ next possession, while David Singleton’s three free throws put the game away for UCLA. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the Bruins with 15 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

No. 3 Houston 70, Wichita State 61

Jarace Walker and Marcus Sasser scored 15 points apiece to lead five Cougars in double figures as Houston to beat the Shockers in Wichita, Kan. The Cougars (21-2, 9-1 American Athletic Conference) trailed by six with 10:44 remaining before going on a decisive 13-4 run fueled by Walker’s three 3-pointers.

Wichita State (11-11, 4-6), which has dropped two of its past three games, was led by Jaykwon Walton, who tied a career-high with 24 points before fouling out.

No. 5 Arizona 91, Oregon 76

Azuolas Tubelis scored a career-high 40 points as the Wildcats avenged an earlier loss to the Ducks in Tucson, Ariz. Tubelis, a junior post player, scored on a variety of drives, putbacks and clever finishes off excellent entry passes. He made 16 of 21 shots from the field and 8 of 9 free-throw attempts and filled the box score with nine rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Will Richardson scored 22 to lead the Ducks, who trailed by 15 at halftime and never cut the deficit to single digits after that.

No. 12 Gonzaga 88, Santa Clara 70

Anton Watson scored 18 points on 8-of-8 shooting as the Bulldogs rebounded from their first home loss since 2018, defeating the Broncos in Spokane, Wash.

Drew Timme scored 15 to reach the 2,000-point plateau in his career for Gonzaga (19-4, 8-1 West Coast Conference). Timme also had game-high totals of 11 rebounds and five assists. Rasir Bolton added 16 points for the Bulldogs, who had a 75-game winning streak at McCarthey Athletic Center snapped with a 68-67 defeat against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 19.

Carlos Stewart led Santa Clara (16-8, 4-5) with 22 points. Brandin Podziemski, who scored a career-high 38 in a 95-89 loss Saturday against Pacific, had 14 points.

No. 18 Saint Mary’s 68, San Francisco 59

Aidan Mahaney scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and the Gaels picked up their 11th consecutive victory by outlasting the Dons in West Coast Conference play in Moraga, Calif.

Coach Randy Bennett, in his 22nd season with Saint Mary’s, picked up his 500th career victory. The first-place Gaels (20-4, 9-0 WCC) next will host No. 12 Gonzaga in a Saturday showdown.

Alex Ducas scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and collected eight rebounds to help the Gaels defeat the Dons for the eighth consecutive time. Khalil Shabazz scored 16 points and Marcus Williams added 15 for San Francisco (15-10, 4-6), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

UAB 86, No. 19 Florida Atlantic 77 Eric Gaines scored 21 points as the Blazers ended the nation’s longest active win streak at 20 games by downing the Owls in Birmingham, Ala.

Jordan Walker, UAB’s scoring leader (23.8 ppg) who hadn’t played in a few weeks because of a bruised foot, returned to action and finished with seven of his 13 points after halftime. The Blazers (16-7, 7-5 Conference USA), winners of three games in a row, also received 10 points from Tavin Lovan.

Nicholas Boyd racked up 18 points, reserve Johnell Davis posted 17 points and Vladislav Goldin had 13 points for Florida Atlantic (21-2, 11-1), which hadn’t lost since a Nov. 11 visit to Mississippi.

–Field Level Media