Dragovic helps UCLA hold off Arizona State 72-70
Published 4:49 pm Thursday, December 31, 2009
LOS ANGELES — Nikola Dragovic tied career highs with six 3-pointers and 23 points and UCLA held on after blowing nearly all of a 16-point lead to beat Arizona State 72-70 Thursday in the teams’ Pac-10 opener.
The Bruins (6-7) hit a season-high 11 3-pointers in winning for the fourth time in five games after a five-game losing streak had left them with the worst non-conference record among league teams.
Rihards Kuksiks scored 15 points for the Sun Devils (10-4)), who swept the Bruins last season before losing James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph to the NBA draft. Ty Abbott and Derek Glasser added 12 points each. Glasser scored seven points in the final 1:03.
Malcolm Lee added 16 points, Michael Roll 12, and Reeves Nelson and Jerime Anderson 10 each for the Bruins.
UCLA built its largest lead of 16 points early in the second half before getting outscored 28-13. Abbott had eight points and Demetrius Walker seven in the spurt that left the Sun Devils trailing 60-59.
But the Bruins reeled off eight in a row to increase their lead to 68-59.
Glasser’s late scoring spurt got the Sun Devils within two with 38 seconds left. Lee extended the margin to four points with two free throws for UCLA, but Arizona State responded with a layup by Jerren Shipp to close within 72-70 with 16 seconds left. Two missed free throws by Nelson gave the Devils a chance to tie or take the lead, but they couldn’t get off a shot in the waning seconds.
The Bruins nearly did themselves in at the line, where they were 17 of 28 overall and just 9 of 15 over the final 6:12.
The first half was a totally different game.
The Bruins shot 83 percent from the floor and 80 percent from long range in the opening half to take a 42-31 lead — the most points given up by the Sun Devils in the first half in their past 63 games.
Three times the Bruins led by 14 points, the last time when Anderson’s jumper kissed off the glass and went in for a 39-28 lead.
UCLA trailed by five when the Bruins went on a 17-2 run to take a 26-16 lead. Dragovic hit three 3-pointers and Lee and Nelson had four points each in the spurt.
Roll added two 3-pointers and Lee closed UCLA’s scoring with a 3 just before halftime.
