Friday Morning Shootaround: UCLA wins, Xavier gets upset

UCLA avoided losing three in a row and in the process kept their hopes alive for a Pac-10 regular season title as they beat Washington 85-76. The Bruins were leading for basically the entire game after building a 34-27 halftime lead. The biggest issue for Washington was turnovers, as they gave up a lot of easy baskets off of turnovers. Josh Shipp led five players in double figures with 20 points while Justin Dentmon had 22 for the Huskies.

Jon Brockman and Alfred Aboya both went for double-doubles (16 and 14 for Brockman, 13 and 11 for Aboya). But it was Darren Collison's play against Isaiah Thomas that really made a difference. Thomas, the Huskies dynamic freshman and leading scorer, finished with just 12 points on 5-14 shooting, committing 5 turnovers.

Here is the rest of Thursday's games:

• Charlotte 65, Xavier 60: Lamont Mack scored all 12 of his points in the final eight minutes, including a three with under a minute left that extended the Charlotte lead to 62-58. The loss dropped Xavier into second place in the A-10, behind Dayton. The Musketeers have now lost three of four, with all three losses coming on the road. Ian Anderson led Charlotte with 16 points while CJ Anderson had 13 for X.
• Michigan 74, Minnesota 62: The Wolverines got hot at the end of the second half, going on a 28-12 run over the last 10:41 to open up a 15 point halftime lead. It was a huge win for Michigan's tournament hopes as they moved to .500 in league play. Michigan and Minnesota are now tied at 7-7 in the Big Ten for 7th place. The top five teams get a bye in the conference tourney. Zak Novak led the Wolverines with 18 points on six three's.
• Duke 76, St. John's 69: The Dukies got 11 points from freshman Eliot Williams, who was making just his second career start as Coach K tried give his struggling Blue Devil a spark. Duke won by seven, but the majority of the game the Johnnies were trailing by double digits. Gerald Henderson led Duke with 19.
• Cal 78, Oregon 60: Cal pounded the ball inside, getting a career-high 18 points from Harper Kemp and 11 and 14 from Jamal Boykin, as they kept pace with UCLA and are now sitting tied with the Bruins and the Sun Devils at a half game behind Washington in the Pac-10 standings. Jerome Randle, Cal's leading scorer, had 13 of his 17 in the second half as Cal pulled away.
• USC 61, Washington State 51: The Trojans got 17 from Dwight Lewis and 16 from Taj Gibson as they snapped a three game losing streak, keeping their bubble hopes alive.
  
• Wisconsin 68, Indiana 51: The Badgers have now won five in a row and look to be headed to another NCAA Tournament.
• Gonzaga 91, Loyola Marymount 54: The 'Zags clinched the WCC title with the win.
• St. Mary's 65, San Diego 61: Omar Samhan went for 20 and 10 as the Gaels moved to 8-4 in the WCC.
  
• Villanova 82, Rutgers 72: Scottie Reynolds had 21 and the Corey's combined for 31 as 'Nova used a 20-5 run midway through the second half to break open a close game.
• Oregon State 66, Stanford 54: The Beavers for 26 points from Roeland Schaftenaar as they moved to 6-8 in the league.
  
• Western Kentucky 78, Arkansas Little-Rock 69: These two schools are now tied with Troy a 12-3 atop the Sun Belt.