Bruins lock up conference title

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NO. 4 UCLA 60, COLORADO 56

BOULDER, Colo. — Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 points and Tyger Campbell had 13 of his 14 points in the second half as No. 4 UCLA hung on to beat Colorado 60-56 on Sunday.

Amari Bailey added 11 points for UCLA (25-4, 16-2), which won its eighth in a row to close out an undefeated February and clinch the regular-season conference title.

“This doesn’t change anything,” UCLA Coach Mick Cronin said. “Our goal along the way was going to have to be winning the Pac-12 to try to be able to stay in the West (for the NCAA Tournament). So, we’ve got more games to win to be able to try to accomplish that goal. Also, we have the longest home winning streak (23 games) in the country we take a lot of pride in. So we’re focused on Arizona State.”

With the Pac-12 tournament and NCAA Tournament on the horizon, Jaquez agreed with his coach that now was not the time to rest on their regular-season title.

“That was one of the goals that we had in the beginning of the year. And we accomplished it,” he said. “And now, we’ve got two more goals that we want to accomplish, as well. And we’re just going to keep working hard.”

KJ Simpson had 14 points to lead Colorado (15-15, 7-12). Tristan da Silva, who left the game with just over five minutes remaining with an apparent lower leg injury, and Luke O’Brien each scored 13 points. Colorado nearly pulled off the upset against UCLA after coming off a lopsided loss to USC.

“There’s a different feeling today after the loss than after Thursday night’s loss, and something I talk to the players about, is that the reason that they’re down and disappointed tonight is because they fought their tails off,” Colorado Coach Tad Boyle said. “They competed their tails off, and they came up short.”

The Buffaloes fought back to take a 45-44 lead on da Silva’s three-pointer with 8:13 remaining, capping an 8-2 run by the Buffaloes. The game remained tight down the stretch with the score tied twice in the final 3:41.

Jaquez made one of two free throws with 2:17 left to put UCLA on top by a point and Campbell added another basket for the Bruins. The Buffaloes got back within two points on a pair of free throws by Lawson Lovering with seven seconds remaining. Amari Bailey was fouled on the subsequent inbounds play and he made both free throws to secure the victory over Colorado, which did not get a shot off in the final seconds.

MARYLAND 75, NO. 21 NORTHWESTERN 59

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Jahmir Young scored 18 points and Don Carey added 13 to help Maryland wrap up an undefeated home season in Big Ten play with a victory over No. 21 Northwestern.

The Terrapins (20-9, 11-7) finished 16-1 overall at home in Kevin Willard’s first season as their coach, and they used unusually impressive three-point shooting to turn back the Wildcats (209, 11-7). Maryland’s win also clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title for No. 5 Purdue.

The Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5) now have a record 25 Big Ten championships, three more than Indiana, which is one of several teams that can still tie Purdue at the top this year. Remarkably, Maryland and Northwestern also are in that group. The Terps have made huge strides in Willard’s first season at the helm, and Chris Collins’ Wildcats entered the AP Top 25 this week before losing to Illinois and Maryland.

Chase Audige led Northwestern with 16 points.

NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 88, GEORGETOWN 68

WASHINGTON — Ed Croswell scored a career-high 25 points and Providence easily dispatched last-place Georgetown despite leading scorer Bryce Hopkins matching his season low with six points.

The Friars ( 21- 8, 13- 5) got doubledigit performances from Jared Bynum, who had 18 points, and Noah Locke and Devin Carter, who each added 12. That helped Providence bounce back from its largest loss of the season — an 87-69 defeat at No. 18 UConn on Wednesday — as it continues to position itself for one of the top seeds in the Big East Tournament.

Primo Spears had 26 points to lead Georgetown (7-23, 2-17).