Washington Drops Close One to UCLA, 64-61
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SEATTLE (AP) -- Johnny Juzang scored 21 of his career-high 32 in the first half, and UCLA snapped a two-game losing streak holding off Washington 64-61 on Saturday night.
Juzang was the entirety of UCLA's offense in the first half, and got just enough help from teammates over the final 20 minutes to hold off Washington's late rally. Juzang made 12 of 23 shots and his big night helped counter a terrible performance at the free-throw line by the Bruins.
Junzag's basket in the lane with 54 seconds left gave UCLA a 61-57 lead. Erik Stevenson answered with a 3 for Washington, but Jules Bernard hit a jumper from the top of the lane with nine seconds left to push the lead to three.
After each team split free throws, Quade Green missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer trying to force overtime.
Bernard finished with 14 points for the Bruins, the only other player in double figures. UCLA (14-5, 10-3 Pac-12) had lost its previous two and three of four after starting conference play 8-0.
Marcus Tsohonis led Washington (3-16, 2-12) with 22 points off the bench, all coming in the second half. Tsohonis made six 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough to snap Washington's five-game losing streak. Green added 14 points for the Huskies.
Juzang scored the final 18 points of the first half for UCLA. But the Bruins missed a chance to turn the game into a blowout in the opening minutes. After jumping out to an 11-0 lead, the Bruins went nearly 10 minutes without scoring.
Juzang's basket with 7:08 left in the half finally snapped the drought, but even his 15 points over the final seven minutes could only give the Bruins a 26-20 lead at halftime.
UCLA built a 44-34 lead midway through the second half, but Washington continued to chip away. The Huskies pulled even at 57 with 2:47 left on Tsohonis' final 3-pointer, but Washington could never take the lead.
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Washington will host Stanford on Thursday.