Kevon Looney registered 27 points and 19 rebounds for UCLA on Thursday (photo by Scott Chandler)
Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Trailing by 14 points with 10 minutes left in regulation, Kevon Looney and Tony Parker went to work.
The two big men keyed a 19-4 outburst that put UCLA ahead by one and the Bruins caught a break when Stanford's Chasson Randle missed a potential game-winning free throw to force the first overtime. Looney and Parker dominated both overtimes, helping UCLA win 86-81 Thursday night and snap its five-game skid.
''I was just playing my game and I picked up my energy,'' said Looney, who had career highs of 27 points and 19 rebounds while playing all but three minutes. ''It was a must-win. I picked up another gear and got going.''
Looney became UCLA’s first player to record at least 27 points and 19 rebounds in one game since Ed O’Bannon tallied 28 points and 19 rebounds in a 15-point win against Stanford on Feb. 26, 1994, in Pauley Pavilion.
Parker tied his career best with 22 points and had 12 rebounds in a career-high 42 minutes, and Bryce Alford had 15 points for the Bruins (9-7, 1-2 Pac-12), who gave second-year coach Steve Alford his 500th career victory.
''They have really been fighting like crazy,'' the elder Alford said. ''You're on a losing streak and you're down 14 points. It doesn't make a season, but this is difficult. It's not easy to shake that.''
Randle scored 32 points, one point off his career high, and Anthony Brown added 21 points for the Cardinal (10-4, 2-1), who had their four-game winning streak end. Stanford has lost 10 straight in Westwood.
''It's very disappointing that we weren't able to close out the game,'' Randle said. ''Defensively we just didn't get any stops.''
Randle had seven 3-pointers, tying his career best, and Brown had a career-best five. Rosco Allen added 14 points.
''The ball just stopped moving,'' Brown said. ''We just didn't rebound on the defensive end.''
UCLA outscored Stanford 10-5 in the second OT. Alford hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with six seconds left in the first OT that gave UCLA a one-point lead. But he fouled out against Randle, who made his first free throw and missed the potential game-winning second one to tie it up at 76-all and force another extra session.
Randle missed a layup in the final seconds of the game.
In the first overtime, the Cardinal got two 3-pointers by Randle with the second one giving them a 75-72 lead. That came after Looney's 3-pointer from the left side tied it at 72-all.
''Those bigs were relentless,'' Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. ''Their inside presence really helped them.''
Isaac Hamilton made one of two free throws after Randle's fourth foul that had the Bruins trailing 75-73. Stefan Nastic was called for an offensive foul with 22 seconds to go. Alford fed Isaac Hamilton in the left corner, but his 3-pointer brushed the net as it missed. Looney got the offensive rebound and his layup missed with eight seconds to go.
After a video review, the Bruins retained possession. Norman Powell, who sustained a hip contusion, inbounded the ball to Alford near the baseline and he sank a 3-pointer from the right side over multiple defenders, giving UCLA a 76-75 lead with 2 seconds to go.
"When they were looking over the call whether it was out on Kevon or them, I was just praying it was them," Bryce Alford said. "I knew if I got a shot I was confident I was going to make it."
The Bruins kept it close early in the second half, when they twice pulled within one.
The Cardinal answered with a 12-0 run, with Randle making two 3-pointers and Brown adding another to extend the advantage to 61-47 – the game's first double-digit lead.
From there, the Bruins outscored the Cardinal 19-4, with Looney and Parker combining for all but three of their team's points. Looney had nine, including a 3-pointer and a three-point play, to draw the Bruins to 65-63. Randle picked up his third foul, while Brown already had three.
''They got together early and started playing well at the beginning,'' the younger Alford said of Looney and Parker. ''Not just getting buckets, but getting to the line. Just being garbage men cleaning up our misses.''
Alford hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give UCLA its first lead of the second half with 3:56 to play.
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