No. 3 UCLA hosts Washington, seeks eighth straight victory
Red-hot UCLA tries to continue its march toward the NCAA Tournament when the No. 3 Bruins host Washington in a Pac-12 game Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
UCLA (26-3, 13-3 Pac-12) won seven in a row since suffering back-to-back losses in late January. Washington (9-19, 2-14) lost 10 in a row since beating Colorado on Jan. 18.
The Bruins went unbeaten in February for the first time since 1995, when they won their last national championship. During that stretch, they avenged all three of their losses, beating No. 6 Oregon, USC and No. 7 Arizona over a span of 17 days.
"You want to be playing your best basketball in March," UCLA coach Steve Alford told the Los Angeles Times. "And I think we're playing our best basketball of the year right now."
The Bruins are coming off one of their biggest wins of the season, a 77-72 victory over Arizona that ended the Wildcats' 21-game home court winning streak. Bryce Alford led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points. Thomas Welsh had 14 points and eight rebounds. TJ Leaf and Aaron Holiday added 12 points apiece while Lonzo Ball contributed 11 points and eight assists.
UCLA led by seven in the first half, but Arizona staged a 10-1 run to carry a 43-39 advantage into the break. Welsh scored 12 points in the second half, including a basket with 12:52 remaining that gave the Bruins a lead they would not relinquish.
"To have a seven-point lead in the first half and feel like we're playing well ... then to have them come back and get a lead at halftime, a lot of teams in this building would turn the other way and they could get blown out," Bryce Alford said. "Tonight shows a lot about how tough we are, and how smart we are."
UCLA concludes the regular season at home against Washington State on Saturday.
Washington is struggling badly and could be without freshman sensation Markelle Fultz, who missed three of the past five games with a knee injury. Fultz is averaging 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds. The Huskies missed Fultz in their latest setback, a 79-71 loss to rival Washington State.
"He's such a playmaker," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar told The News-Tribune. "There were times tonight where we just couldn't score, and a lot of times Markelle is just able to make a play, and when he's not in there, you miss that part of it."
Carlos Johnson scored a team-high 17 points for Washington, which closes out the regular season at USC on Saturday. Noah Dickerson had 16 points and 13 rebounds against the Cougars. Dickerson hurt his ankle in that game, but "he'll be fine," Romar said.
Romar wasn't so sure about Fultz.
"I'm not telling you he's playing. I'm not telling you he's not playing," Romar told The News-Tribune. "We just don't know at this point. I don't know any other way to answer it other than I don't know. I can't tell you."
