Muhammad, UCLA upset No. 7 Missouri
December 29, 2012 - 2:01 am
LOS ANGELES - After two defeats to ranked opponents and a surprising loss to Cal Poly that knocked UCLA out of the top 25, the Bruins are starting to find their way.
Highly touted freshman Shabazz Muhammad from Las Vegas made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining in overtime to help UCLA upset No. 7 Missouri 97-94 on Friday night and extend its winning streak to five games.
Muhammad, a swingman from Bishop Gorman High, tied his career high with 27 points for the second game in a row. He raised his scoring average to 19.6 points through his first 10 games.
"This is one of the biggest wins we could possibly get," Muhammad said. "We're right back where we want to be to start Pac-12 play."
Travis Wear, who finished with a career-high 22 points, added a jumper with 12 seconds remaining to close out UCLA's first victory over a top-10 nonconference opponent since 2007.
On the pivotal play, Larry Drew II passed to Muhammad on the right perimeter, and Muhammad made his second 3-pointer of overtime.
"I'm really comfortable. I like taking the big shots," Muhammad said. "Larry trusted me on the shot and I just hit it."
Missouri's Phil Pressey missed a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go before teammate Laurence Bowers grabbed the rebound and missed a 3-pointer in front of the Tigers' bench as time expired.
David Wear added 16 points, Jordan Adams had 12 points and Drew dealt 12 assists for the Bruins (10-3). They had suffered earlier losses to ranked Georgetown and San Diego State, while wins over Texas, Prairie View A&M, Long Beach State and Fresno State had failed to get them back into the polls.
UCLA hadn't defeated such a highly ranked nonconference opponent since the second-ranked Bruins beat No. 10 Michigan State on Nov. 20, 2007, at Kansas City, Mo.
Pressey finished with 19 points and a career-high 19 of Missouri's 21 assists, including all 12 in the first half. Keion Bell and Bowers each scored 17 points, Earnest Ross added 16 and Jabari Brown had 14 for the Tigers (10-2).
AROUND THE NATION
• HOOSIERS POST BLOWOUT - At Bloomington, Ind., Jordan Hulls had 20 points, and No. 5 Indiana (12-1) cruised to a 93-59 rout of Jacksonville (5-8) in its final nonconference game before starting Big Ten play Monday at Iowa
• PANGOS POWERS NO. 13 ZAGS - At Spokane, Wash., Kevin Pangos made seven 3-pointers and scored 31 points to guide No. 13 Gonzaga (12-1) to a 94-87 win over Baylor (8-4). Big 12 scoring leader Pierre Jackson (Desert Pine) had 26 points to lead Baylor.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
• STORY SPARKS WOLF PACK - At Reno, Malik Story scored 35 points to lead UNR (9-4) to its fifth straight win, 85-75 over Yale (4-8). Story shot 12 of 21 from the field.