Chris Smith's driving layup with 21.2 seconds left Thursday night enabled UCLA to edge Oregon State 68-67 in a Pac-12 Conference game at Los Angeles.
Smith, one of five Bruins in double figures with 10 points, whirled into the lane and drew a foul from Stephen Thompson Jr. as he softly banked his shot home. Smith missed the free throw, but UCLA (14-13, 7-7) stonewalled the Beavers on their next-to-last possession.
The ball never made it past the 3-point arc, Oregon State's Tres Tinkle tossing up a 3-pointer from the right wing that sailed over the rim and out of bounds with 1.8 seconds left. While the Bruins' Jaylen Hands missed two foul shots with 1.0 seconds left, all the Beavers could do was get a full-court heave from Tinkle that wasn't close.
Moses Brown's 14 points and 10 rebounds paced the balanced UCLA offense while Hands finished with 12 points and eight assists. Kris Wilkes and reserve Jules Bernard each added 10 points.
Thompson tallied a game-high 21 points and doled out seven assists for Oregon State (16-9, 8-5), which fell out of second place in the conference. Tinkle contributed a 19-point, 16-rebound double-double.
The Bruins derived a major advantage at the foul line, making 18 of 28 attempts as opposed to the Beavers' 1 for 3.
UCLA took control quickly in a first half that was a defense-optional affair for the first eight minutes, the Bruins leading 19-17 after Oregon State's Alfred Hollins converted a layup off an Ethan Thompson pass with 12:06 left.
But UCLA became the first team to string together stops, holding the Beavers scoreless for more than six minutes and eventually establishing a 32-22 advantage on a 3-pointer by Wilkes with 4:49 remaining in the half.
Smith capped the half by splitting a pair of foul shots with 19 seconds on the clock, enabling the Bruins to take a 40-31 lead to the locker room. They shot 48.3 percent from the field and racked up 13 fast-break points to Oregon State's four.
--Field Level Media
Oregon St. | UCLA | |
Stephen Thompson Jr. 21 | Scoring | Moses Brown 14 |
Ethan Thompson 7 | Assists | Jaylen Hands 8 |
Tres Tinkle 16 | Rebounds | Moses Brown 11 |
Stephen Thompson Jr. 1 | Free Throws Made | Jules Bernard 8 |
Zach Reichle 2 | Steals | Jaylen Hands 2 |
Kylor Kelley 4 | Blocks | Alex Olesinski 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Oregon St. | 67 | 50.8 | 6-20 | 1-3 | 21 | 32 | 6 | 4 | 11 |
UCLA | 68 | 42.3 | 6-15 | 18-28 | 13 | 32 | 2 | 5 | 12 |