LOS ANGELES – No. 7 Missouri had its chances against UCLA, leading by nine points with 4:04 left in regulation and by two points in overtime. The Tigers couldn't close it out while playing their first true road game of the season.
Phil Pressey missed a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go before Laurence Bowers grabbed the rebound and missed a 3 in front of the Tigers' bench as time expired in their 97-94 loss on Friday night.
"My throat went into my stomach on that last 3-point Hail Mary by Bowers," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "If he would have made that it would have been a second overtime."
Shabazz Muhammad hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:01 left in overtime to help UCLA extend its winning streak to five games. Travis Wear, who finished with a career-high 22 points, added a jumper with 12 seconds remaining to close out the Bruins' first win over a top 10 nonconference opponent since 2007.
Pressey finished with 19 points and a career-high 19 of Missouri's 21 assists, including all 12 for his team in the first half, while playing 44 minutes. Keion Bell and Bowers had 17 points each, Earnest Ross added 16 and Jabari Brown scored 14 for the Tigers (10-2), who had a vocal group of supporters among the 11,854 at Pauley Pavilion.
Missouri coach Frank Haith said the Tigers' final play in overtime was supposed to be for Ross.
"But Pressey took the shot off a ball-screen action and he didn't make it," Haith said. "We made some really gambling plays and that really cost us. We need to learn how to finish a game out in the last 3 minutes."
The Tigers made a season-high 12 3-pointers, including four by Brown. As the nation's top rebounding team, they controlled the boards, 50-36, but committed 17 turnovers that led to 36 points by the Bruins.
Muhammad tied his career high with 27 points, David Wear scored 16, Jordan Adams had 12 and Larry Drew II added 12 assists for the Bruins (10-3).
"They made a lot of shots. The Wear twins played great. Shabazz played great," Bowers said. "They had a lot of confidence. I don't think we executed our game plan. We shot ourselves in the foot with certain plays."
Adams' layup tied the game at 88 with 11 seconds to go in regulation. With four fouls to give, the Bruins chose to use them up rather than allow Missouri to run an offensive set. Adams grabbed Pressey and flung him to the ground with 4 seconds left. Pressey stayed down briefly before getting up.
After a timeout, Brown's jumper missed and Travis Wear came up with a block when Bell went for the offensive rebound as regulation expired.
The Tigers were 6 of 10 from the free throw line, while UCLA was 13 of 16.
"We have to find a way to get aggressive on the road," Haith said. "We will learn from it. There is a lot of basketball left in the season."
The teams traded runs in the second half, with the Bruins ending on an 11-2 spurt to force overtime. Missouri preceded that burst with 12 straight points of its own to turn a three-point deficit into an 86-77 lead, its largest since midway through the opening half. Pressey scored the first five, Bell stole the ball and dunked on a fast break, and Bowers capped it with a three-point play.
After the score was tied 47-all at the break, the Bruins opened the second half on a 16-7 run to go up 63-54. Missouri fought back from the perimeter, hitting four 3-pointers to close to 77-74.
"They got off to a slow start, but we are definitely seeing how great of a team they were tonight," Bowers said of the Bruins. "(Shabazz) is so multi-dimensional. He can shoot it from the outside and he can post up. He just played an all-around great game."
The Bruins' hadn't beaten such a highly ranked nonconference opponent since Nov. 20, 2007, when they defeated No. 10 Michigan State.
The game was another thrilling chapter in the teams' history. The Bruins beat the Tigers 75-74 in the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament when Tyus Edney banked in the winning shot at the buzzer after a full-court dash with 4.8 seconds to play. UCLA went on to win its record 11th national championship. Edney is now the school's director of basketball operations.
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