Photo Courtesy Getty Images by Stephen Dunn

Josh Shipp didn’t have much time or real estate to work with but somehow he made a near impossible seven footer to save No.2 ranked UCLA from an upset, allowing the Bruins to rally back and prevail over Pac-10 rival California 81-80.

The Bruins trailed by as many as 11 but scrapped and clawed their way back late slicing the deficit to one thanks to freshman standout Kevin Love’s trifecta with 17.3 seconds to go. Following a steal which allowed them to get the ball back, they went for the win in the final 10 seconds but a UCLA shot was blocked out of bounds by a California player giving them one more chance to stave off a big upset on their home court.

With just six and a half seconds remaining, Shipp got the ball on the right baseline and worked his way to the basket with two defenders on him. With seemingly nowhere to go except out of bounds, he took the low percentage shot. It rainbowed over the backboard and in to miraculously give UCLA an 81-80 lead with 1.5 seconds still on the clock.

When a Cal home run pass went off a Bruin and out of bounds, excited fans spilled onto the court thinking the game was over with it showing only 0.1 on the clock. However, the officials reviewed replays and gave the Golden Bears the ball with one more chance.

Patrick Christopher’s prayer fell well short allowing the Bruins to escape with a school record 28th win this regular season.

The victory was UCLA’s seventh in a row which they’ll take into next week’s Pac-10 league tournament before the selection committee (brain surgeons, huh) sorts out who’s in and out as well as what seeds each team shall get.

Love paced a balanced UCLA attack with 22 shooting 6-of-14 from the floor and nine for 10 from the charity stripe. He only made one three but it turned out to be large cause it came in crunch time. Five Bruins hit for double digits including the game hero Shipp, who finished with 12 despite misfiring on six of eight trifectas.

Ryan Anderson scored 21 (6-of-11 FG, 8-for-9 FT) to lead the Golden Bears, who suffered a gutwrenching defeat after leading for most of the day. Jamal Boykin chipped in with 18 and Christopher had 13.

Editor’s Note: The game wasn’t without controversy as it appeared Anderson was fouled by Russell Westbrook, who tugged at his jersey before the ball went out of bounds. It also appeared to go off UCLA and probably should’ve been Cal ball. How such a big call could be missed is a joke. Have the guts to call it.

In other notable college bball Saturday action, Georgetown won their second consecutive Big East regular season title by posting a hard fought 55-52 home victory over No.12 Louisville. They can thank guard DaJuan Summers, who connected from downtown on the right wing to give them the lead for good with 40 seconds to play.

Setup nicely by senior Jonathan Wallace off some dribble penetration, a wide open Summers hit nothing but the bottom of the net to put the 11th ranked Hoyas in front by two. It was his only shot of the second half which saw the two Big East schools go toe to toe in a defensive physical battle.

Rick Pitino’s Cards had plenty of chances to tie the score. Trailing by three, they misfired on three treys including Earl Clark’s wild miss on a contested shot. It really was a bad force. He still had time left as there were over 10 seconds to go. Clark should’ve dished back out to New York product Edgar Sosa.

Sosa got one more opportunity due to a missed front end of a one-on-one by Georgetown’s Jeremiah Rivers but his attempt didn’t come close allowing the Hoyas to repeat as regular season conference champs for the first time in school history.

St. John’s season came to an end at MSG where they dropped a tough one in overtime to West Virginia 83-74. Had they prevailed, it’s possible Norm Roberts’ club could’ve qualified for the Big East tournament. Instead, they’ll be packing up early yet again for the fourth time in the past five years making the 100th Anniversary of the men’s basketball program a complete embarrassment.

Sure, Roberts’ team played hard most of the season but when you don’t have a consistent offense outside of Anthony Mason, Jr., you aren’t winning too many games.

What made the defeat worse that they should’ve won. Leading by a couple with under eight seconds left, they allowed somebody by the name of Joe Mazzulla to go the length of the court and convert a lefty lay-up before time expired. Roberts’ team usually plays good aggressive hardnosed D but on this tying bucket, they didn’t even come close to touching Mazzulla let along getting in his path.

Wouldn’t you at least want to challenge him and make the shot attempt a tad more difficult?!?!?!?!?! Not if you’re these Redmen. Just brutal.

Not shockingly, West Virginia controlled the overtime outscoring St. John’s 15-6 with the game’s leading scorer Joe Alexander torching them for seven of his 29. He made 13-of-15 from the line and also pulled down 10 rebounds for a double double.

By comparison, the Johnnies shot a putrid 7-for-18 as a team from the charity stripe. It’s easy to see why they lost. The Mountaineers were 30-for-42 at the line.

The defeat dropped St. John’s to 11-19 for the season. They won just five games in the Big East while losing 13.

Unfortunately, it overshadowed a strong effort from sophomore Larry Wright, who notched a career high 20 including six triples. Mason, Jr. added 17 and five boards before fouling out.

Former Lincoln Railsplitter Eugene Lawrence concluded his four-year St. John’s career finishing with eight points and seven assists. Freshman point guard Malik Boothe had seven assists off the bench. Hopefully, the former Christ The King star will be heard from next Fall.

For now, another disappointing season is over. I wish I could say something nice but thankfully it is. Well, there’s always next year. Right?