Associated Press
LOS ANGELES ó Josh Shipp scored 20 points and No. 20 UCLA held off 22nd-ranked Washington 85-76 on Thursday to move into a second-place tie in the Pac-10, a half-game behind the Huskies.
Darren Collison added 17 points, Nikola Dragovic scored 15, and Alfred Aboya had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bruins (20-6, 9-4). They kept alive their bid for a fourth consecutive league title.
Washington’s Justin Dentmon scored 22 points and Jon Brockman had 16 points and 14 rebounds for his 55th career double-double, most among college basketball’s active players.
No. 12 Villanova 82, Rutgers 72
VILLANOVA, Pa. ó Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Corey Stokes had 17 for Villanova (21-5, 9-4 Big East).
No. 17 Gonzaga 91, Loyola Mary. 54SPOKANE, Wash. ó Steven Gray scored a career-high 23 points and Gonzaga (20-5, 11-0) won its ninth consecutive West Coast Conference regular season title.
Josh Heytvelt added 18 points as Gonzaga won at least 20 games for a 12th consecutive season. Gray made five of seven 3-pointers, all in his 21-point second half.
Appalachian State 70, UNCG 69
GREENSBORO ó A.J. Highsmith hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left as Appalachian State (10-16, 7-11 SoCon) defeated UNCG (5-21, 4-13).
ASU jumped ahead 67-65 on a Kellen Brand layup with 2:06 remaining. Kendall Toney hit a 3-pointer and Damian Eargle connected on a free throw to give the Spartans a two-point lead with 49 seconds left.
Brand scored 15 points, Donald Sims added 13 and Donterious Hughes chipped in 10 for App. State.
Elon 72, Western Carolina 66
ELON ó Ola Atoyebi scored 14 points, and Elon (9-10, 6-11 SoCon) rallied past Western (13-13, 8-8).
The Catamounts led 57-49 with 7:42 to play, and Elon’s Chris Long capped a 14-3 run with a 3-pointer that produced a 63-60 lead with 2:47 left. Atoyebi had six points in the run.
The Catamounts reclaimed the lead briefly at 66-65 on a Harouna Mutumbo jump shot with 1:29 to go.
Elon then took the lead for good as Atoyebi gave the Phoenix a 67-66 advantage with 24 seconds to play.
Coll. of Charl. 81, Ga. Southern 68
STATESBORO, Ga. ó Andrew Goudelock scored 18 points to lead College of Charleston (20-7, 12-5 SoCon) over the Eagles. (7-18, 5-12).