UCLA 61, Washington 54
SEATTLE -- Shabazz Muhammad didn't get a chance to take the game-winning shot again when UCLA faced Washington on Saturday. Thanks to his second-half performance, the Bruins didn't need one.
Muhammad scored 11 of his 18 points after halftime, including five during a 9-0 UCLA run to put the Huskies away in the final four minutes, as the Bruins clinched the Pacific 12 Conference regular-season title with a 61-54 victory over Washington.
The Bruins (23-8, 13-5 in the Pac-12) clinched a tie for the title by winning and earned the whole thing a little while later when Oregon lost to Utah, 72-62.
Larry Drew II, who waved off Muhammad in the final seconds of a Feb. 7 game with Washington before hitting the game-winner at the buzzer, made another clutch shot Saturday when he drove the lane for a lay-in with 32.6 seconds remaining, giving UCLA a 59-54 lead.
Drew finished with only five points, but also had a team-high six assists.
Washington went cold down the stretch, following up a 52-48 lead by missing eight consecutive shots and turning the ball over three times, as Muhammad and the Bruins scored nine unanswered points to finish off the Huskies (17-14, 9-9).
The Huskies jumped out to an 11-4 lead and led for much of the first half. UCLA finally caught them, 18-18, midway through the half, and the Bruins took their first-and-only lead before halftime when Shabazz Muhammad tipped in Jordan Adams' miss for a 26-25 lead with 4:21 left.
The Huskies eventually led 31-30 at halftime.
A 10-2 run to start the second half, led by six points from Adams, gave UCLA its biggest lead, 40-33, less than four minutes into the second half.
Washington came back to tie the game, 45-45, and eventually took a 52-48 lead with six minutes remaining, then Huskies big man Aziz N'Diaye added to the rally by blocking a shot into the stands and celebrating with three pushups.
But Washington missed its next eight shots and scored only two points the rest of the way. UCLA finished the game with a 13-2 run to complete a sweep of the Huskies.
NOTES: Washington lost its seventh home game of the season, matching the career-high total coach Lorenzo Romar had during his first season with the Huskies in 2002-03. ... Larry Drew II got his fourth assist of the game early in the second half, breaking Pooh Richardson's school record of 236 in a season. Drew had six for the game and has 239 for the season. ... Washington senior Scott Suggs continued his efficient offense, scoring 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. In the Huskies' last four games, Suggs has averaged 17.8 points per game, while making 27 of 43 shots. ... UCLA scored its first two baskets on dunks Saturday, but the Bruins missed badly on their other four shots from the floor, before Travis Wear hit a 12-foot jumper with 16:22 remaining in the first half to cut Washington's lead to 11-6.
