Senior forward Anton Watson scored a career-high 32 points and No. 11 Gonzaga held off UCLA for a 69-65 win in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday in Honolulu.
Watson shot 14-for-15 from the floor, as he made just five fewer field goals than the entire UCLA team.
Gonzaga (4-1) outside of Watson shot just 9-for-38 (23.7 percent) from the floor, and the Bulldogs shot 58.6 percent from the free-throw line, 17-for-29.
UCLA (4-2) went 23-for-31, 74.2 percent, on free-throw attempts. The Bruins’ success at the foul line kept them within striking distance despite trailing for almost 37 minutes of game time.
Gonzaga led by as many as 13 points in the first half lead behind Watson’s 15 points before intermission, and the gap was 38-34 at the break.
The Bruins battled back, taking a 41-40 lead early in the second half when Adem Bona hit a jumper for two of his 11 points. Gonzaga responded with a 13-1 run spanning more than four minutes, capped when Watson connected on a 3-pointers.
Watson went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. The rest of the Bulldogs combined to shoot 3-of-13 from deep. Nolan Hickman, who shot 2-for-4 from 3-point range, finished with 11 points.
Ryan Nembhard added 12 points and dished four assists for Gonzaga.
UCLA went just 4-for-14 from 3-point range, led by Lazar Stefanovic’s 2-for-5. Stefanovic matched Sebastian Mack with a team-high 16 points.
UCLA cut the deficit from 11 points with 4:41 remaining down to three thanks to a 10-2 run capped on the second of Stefanovic’s 3-pointers. But the Bruins could get no closer as Gonzaga made three free throws in the final 21 seconds.
Stefanovic grabbed eight rebounds and Mack hauled in seven. Stefanovic also came away with a game-high three steals.
Watson pulled down seven rebounds. Dusty Stromer led the Bulldogs with eight rebounds.
–Field Level Media
