UCLA Basketball Wins Another Thriller Over Colorado, 78-75

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA basketball fended off another late rally on Saturday, this time against Colorado, as the Bruins beat the Buffaloes, 76-73, to stay undefeated in Pac-12 play and move to 14-3 overall in the season.

The Bruins and Buffs were in quite the back-and-forth affair for much of the first half, with 11 lead changes and four ties early on. UCLA led at the half and didn’t trail for the rest of the game, allowing Colorado to tie the contest just once, with 16 minutes to go.

The Bruins’ lead ballooned to 13 after Jordan Adams converted a four-point play opportunity. The Buffaloes didn’t stay down for very long, however, and cut the lead to single digits with six minutes left to play in the game.

What ensued was a furious rally by the Buffs, one too commonly seen by UCLA fans from opposing teams. Colorado eventually came within three points of UCLA with a Spencer Dinwiddie three-point shot with 35 seconds to go, but the Bruins knocked down the free-throws necessary to keep the Buffs at bay and improve to 4-0 in conference play.

The player of the game was easily Travis Wear, who scored a season-high 23 points off of 11-for-17 shooting. Wear was the last Bruin to score a field goal for the Bruins with one minute left in the game and scored nine of UCLA’s preceding points as well. This is the second performance in which Travis Wear kept UCLA’s head above water and proved to be his best performance of the season.

Jordan Adams followed closely behind Wear, earning 18 points off of 6-for-11 shooting, while icing the game with last-minute free throws to keep the Bruins in the lead.

UCLA will host the Oregon schools next weekend, with Oregon State visiting Pauley on January 17 at 6 p.m. PT, and Oregon visiting January 19 at 1 .m. PT.