UCLA hangs on to beat Washington 82-80 in Big Ten opener behind Clark and Bilodeau

SEATTLE (AP) — Skyy Clark hit six 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Tyler Bilodeau scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half and UCLA held on to win the Big Ten Conference opener with an 82-80 win over Washington after leading by 16 with less than five minutes to play on Wednesday night.

Down 76-60 with 4:45 left, the Huskies went on a 17-2 run, closing within 78-77 on Quimari Peterson's 3-pointer with 36.7 seconds to go. Clark was fouled on a three-point attempt at 14.5 seconds and he pushed the lead back to 81-77, but Zoom Diallo answered with a three-point play with 8.7 remaining.

Donovan Dent was fouled with 4.9 seconds to play but he missed the second free throw. Diallo's 3-point attempt from the right wing was too strong at the buzzer.

Dent had 17 points and eight assists for the Bruins (6-2), who have won eight-straight conference openers.

Hannes Steinbach had 29 points on 11-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds for Washington (5-3). Diallo added 19 points and Peterson and Wesley Yates III each had 12.

Bilodeau scored 16-straight UCLA points in less than six minutes of the second half, hitting a 3-pointer and converting three three-point plays. Steinbach had 16 points in the second half, nine in the run to put the Huskies back in the game.

Jamar Brown and Clark closed the first half with 3-pointers for the Bruins for a 36-32 lead. Clark kept the hot hand he had in the first half, scoring the first basket of the second half.

UCLA is home on Saturday against Oregon.

Washington plays at No. 24 USC on Saturday.

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