UCLA holds off Texas A&M 53-49 in thriller
By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Those UCLA Bruins keep finding more drama and ways to win in the closing seconds.
Darren Collison scored the go-ahead basket on a one-handed layin with 9½ seconds remaining, Josh Shipp contested Donald Sloan's final drive and the West Region's No. 1 seed held on for a 53-49 victory over Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA tournament tonight.
The Bruins (33-3) won their 12th in a row and will face Western Kentucky or San Diego next week in Phoenix.
Urged on by 17,600 pro-UCLA fans that made it seem like a home game, the Bruins rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half.
Kevin Love had 19 points and 11 rebounds — his 21st double-double — and UCLA overcame the combined 3-of-14 shooting of Shipp and Russell Westbrook.
Sloan led the Aggies (25-11) with 12 points and Josh Carter added 10. A&M was trying to get back to the final 16 for the second straight year. Instead, the Aggies fell to 7-10 in NCAA tourney games and 0-4 against UCLA.
Collison led UCLA with 21 points, including 14 in the first half when he didn't miss a shot from the field, line or 3-point range.
Love, the newcomer to NCAA tourney pressure, and Collison, the wily veteran of consecutive Final Four appearances, dominated the final 3 minutes. Love converted consecutive turnaround jumpers — one tied it at 45 and the other gave the Bruins their first lead since late in the first half.
But Joseph Jones, who bumped and clawed with Love in the post most of the game, got in front of the Pac-10 Player of the Year and scored A&M's first field goal in nearly 10 minutes to tie it at 47.
The first of Collison's two one-handed layins put the Bruins back in front by two with 55 seconds left. Sloan tied it for the final time at 49 before Collison again floated in with a one-handed shot, furiously pounding his chest as the crowd exploded with 9½ seconds left.
Love was credited with his eighth block on Sloan's desperate drive.
The game provided all of the drama that was missing in UCLA's 41-point opening win over Mississippi Valley State.
