AP Photos
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Freshman Jordan Farmar scored a season-high 25 points and drove the lane for the go-ahead basket with 4.7 seconds left to give UCLA an 85-83 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday.
Alex Acker's 3-pointer to win bounced off the rim as time expired, snapping Pepperdine's seven-game winning streak that began after the Waves (7-2) lost their opener to East Carolina.
Pepperdine was off to its best start in nearly 20 years and seeking its second straight victory over the Bruins (5-1) for the first time since the series began.
But Farmar took over the game in the final 2:07, scoring nine of UCLA's final 11 points.
Glen McGowan scored 24 points and Acker added 19 for the Waves, who snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Bruins in 2001 with an 85-78 upset at Pauley Pavilion in coach Steve Lavin's penultimate season.
The Bruins started three freshmen, with Josh Shipp joining regulars Farmar and Arron Afflalo as the replacement for injured Dijon Thompson, who leads UCLA in scoring and rebounding. Shipp proved a worthy substitute with 15 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes.
He made a key steal inside, then scored on a drive to tie the game at 81 with 52 seconds left. Acker missed a jumper, but Yakhouba Diawara tipped the ball in to give Pepperdine an 83-81 lead.
Farmar made two free throws for an 83-all tie. Diawara lost the ball out of bounds with 9 seconds remaining before Farmar scored on the winning drive.
The Bruins survived a mistake-prone stretch midway through the second half, when Pepperdine gained its first lead and built a seven-point advantage. As good as Farmar was at the end, he showed he's a freshman. He tossed up an airball as the shot-clock expired and missed on a drive. Brian Morrison missed an open 3-pointer, then turned the ball over on a bounce pass in the lane.
But Pepperdine was in foul trouble in the final 8 minutes and McGowan received a technical for hanging on the rim after a dunk.
The Bruins rallied behind Shipp, who rebounded a teammate's miss and scored, then hit a 3-pointer to pull them within two.
Center Michael Fey had a productive game, with 13 points and six rebounds. The Bruins dominated the boards, 41-23.
Thompson reinjured his right shooting hand late in UCLA's loss to Boston College last Sunday and needed 13 stitches to close the cut in the webbing between his index and middle fingers. The original injury occurred during practice in October.
UCLA leads the series 15-4.
