UCLA basketball: Bruins pull out victory with buzzer-beater
Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
January 21, 2010 | 9:57 pm
UCLA had to wait for instant replay to confirm it, but the Bruins pulled out a 62-61 victory over Washington when Mustafa Abdul-Hamid made a jumper from the top of the key at the buzzer.
Abdul-Hamid’s shot came after Washington’s Venoy Overton went coast to coast for a layup and a 61-59 lead. But Abdul-Hamid got the ball at mid-court, cut toward the middle of the floor and shot just before the horn sounded.
The victory gets the Bruins out of last place in the Pacific 10 Conference. They are 8-10 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
Reeves Nelson had 16 points and Malcolm Lee added 13 for UCLA.
Quincy Pondexter had 23 points for Washington.
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Huskies upset by UCLA, 62-61, on buzzer beater
A dramatic last-second shot sends UW coach Lorenzo Romar nearly to his knees as Bruins fans rush the court.
By Percy Allen, staff reporter
Seattle Times
Originally published January 21, 2010 at 10:02 PM | Page modified January 21, 2010 at 10:12 PM
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 all night.
With less than 15 minutes left in the second half, UW had scored just eight points after intermission and trailed 52-59.
The Huskies travel across town Saturday to face USC, which lost 67-60 to Washington State on Thursday.
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