Jan 17, 2002
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. - Billy Knight had 21 points and Jason Kapono added 20 as No. 9 UCLA beat Arizona State 82-79 Thursday night, the Bruins' 11th win in 12 games.
Matt Barnes added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Bruins (13-3, 5-1 Pac-10), while Dan Gadzuric scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
Chad Prewitt had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Sun Devils (10-6, 3-4), who rallied from a double-digit deficit twice in the second half only to fall short for the 25th time in their last 26 games against the Bruins.
Kapono made three free throws with 39 seconds to go, including two on a technical foul after a fan threw something on the court, to give the Bruins an 80-72 lead.
Arizona State's Curtis Millage, who had 15 points, and Prewitt made 3-pointers down the stretch, but the Bruins countered with free throws.
UCLA had the ball under its own basket with 6.2 seconds to go, but Millage stole the inbounds pass and missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Bruins took a 50-39 lead by getting nine points out of three straight possessions early in the second half, then fought off three rallies for the win.
Arizona State got within 50-45 on 3-pointers by Kenny Crandall and Prewitt, the latter with 14:22 to go.
But Barnes started an 11-2 run with a jump hook, and Kapono finished it with a 3-pointer, sending the Bruins to their biggest lead, 64-51, with 9:08 to play.
The Sun Devils missed 13 of their first 16 shots - two of the three they made were dunks - while falling behind early.
But they made up an eight-point deficit to go ahead 29-28 on a layup by Awvee Storey with 1:57 left in the first half.
Knight had a putback 17 seconds later and, after another Arizona State basket, he dominated the final 55 seconds.
Knight started with a jumper in the lane, lifting the Bruins to a 32-31 lead. Then he got a defensive rebound, was fouled and made two free throws. He then stole the ball from Millage for a buzzer-beating layup that gave UCLA a 36-31 halftime lead.
The Bruins played without Rico Hines, who is recovering from a concussion sustained in practice. UCLA had won 10 of 11 games after Hines became a starter on Dec. 5.