SEATTLE — The big guy did it again.
Three days after his breakout game, Aday Mara made sure UCLA didn’t falter with two huge baskets in the final two minutes.
With Washington surging toward what looked like an epic comeback, the 7-foot-3 center collected a loose ball along the baseline for a jump hook that put the Bruins ahead by six points.
Then, after Washington’s D.J. Davis buried a three-pointer to make it a three-point game, Mara made another jump hook to put UCLA up by five.
Huskies guard Zoom Diallo’s putback pulled his team to within 60-57 with 41 seconds left, but UCLA’s Dylan Andrews countered with a step-back three-pointer with 17 seconds to go.
After UCLA guard Skyy Clark came up with a steal and was fouled, a crowd that had been roaring inside Alaska Airlines only moments earlier streamed toward the exits with the Bruins on their way to a 65-60 victory Friday night.
It was UCLA’s first road triumph in the Big Ten since early December against Oregon, when Andrews hit the game-winning three-pointer.
Winners of three consecutive games, the Bruins (14-6 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) are on a roll heading into the crosstown rivalry game Monday against USC at the Galen Center.
Mara finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in a career-high 30 minutes. Clark added 12 points and UCLA forward Kobe Johnson had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Forward Great Osobor scored 19 points for Washington (10-10, 1-8), which has lost six straight games.
An excellent sequence by UCLA guard Sebastian Mack pushed the Bruins into a 51-42 lead with 12:05 left. After making a three-pointer near the end of the shot clock, Mack took a charge and added another three-pointer shortly thereafter.
Mack soon came up with a steal that Andrews followed with a jumper to give UCLA an 11-point advantage with 11:18 to go.
Washington wasn’t having nearly as much good fortune from long range, missing its first 10 three-pointers before Tyree Ihenacho broke through nearly five minutes into the second half.
Though he didn’t start after his big showing against Wisconsin, Mara was on the court in the game’s early going after Tyler Bilodeau limped toward a trainer’s table with an apparent knee or leg injury.
Bilodeau briefly returned before heading back to the bench, ceding his minutes to Mara. Mara made the most of them, making his first three shots, grabbing four rebounds and blocking three shots in 14 minutes before halftime.
UCLA withstood a sloppy stretch to go on a 15-2 run late in the first half. The Bruins tightened their defense and Washington missed eight consecutive shots. Forward Eric Dailey Jr.’s driving layup in the final second gave the Bruins a 36-32 lead at halftime.
They would not falter the rest of the way.
