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UT upsets No. 1 UCLA

Perfect start to season continues with big win over Pac-10 foe

By Clay Whittington

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Published: Monday, December 3, 2007

Updated: Friday, January 9, 2009

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AP

Eighth-ranked Texas celebrates their victory over top-ranked UCLA at the Bruin's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif. Texas won 63-61, marking the first time they've beaten a No. 1 team during a true road game.

D.J. Augustin scored 11 points in the second half against UCLA, but it was his miss with eight seconds remaining that sealed Texas' upset over the No. 1 team in the country.

Tied at 61 with nine seconds remaining, Augustin drove to the basket and forced up an errant shot that was captured in midair and dunked by Damion James to give the Longhorns a 63-61 victory in Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA had a final shot to win the game, but Luc Richard Mbah a Moute missed a 3-pointer and Texas escaped with the victory. Mbah a Moute finished with a team-high 14 points for the Bruins.

James grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and tied Augustin in scoring with 19 points. The duo combined for 21 of the team's 26 second half points.

The Longhorns (7-0) ran out to an early lead over the country's top team, scoring 17 unanswered points over an 8:59 span to take a 12-point lead into halftime. But it would take the Bruins just over a minute of the second period to cut the lead in half.

Texas struggled offensively to open the final period, shooting one of nine from the field, and UCLA grabbed their first lead in almost 20 minutes when Josh Shipp scored three of his 11 points to put the Bruins on top 41-40.

The game was back and forth from that point on.

Augustin and James scored the Longhorns first 14 points of the half before Abrams tied the game at 53 on a layup. Abrams, who came into the game as the team's leading scorer, averaging 20.7 points, finished with seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.

The Bruins (7-1) took a 61-58 lead with 1:25 following a pair of Lorenzo Mata-Real layups and a basket by Mbah a Moute.

After a timeout, Connor Atchley hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 61, setting up the last second dramatics from Augustin and James.

Atchley's defensive efforts helped to limit UCLA's freshman center Kevin Love to 11 points and five rebounds, well below his averages of 18.1 points and 10.6 rebounds.

Darren Collison, in his first start of the season, led UCLA to a 10-4 advantage by scoring five consecutive points, but the Longhorns put together a 9-2 run, capped off by an Abrams' floater, to take their first lead at 13-12 with 13:58 on the clock.

The Bruins took back the lead on a pair of free throws by Collison with 13:31 remaining but would then go almost nine minutes without a field goal as Texas ran out to a 30-14 lead.

Mbah a Moute ended the drought with a dunk at the 4:38 mark followed by a five-point run, all by Love, to bring the lead to 11, 32-21. Love was 3-of-3 for seven points while the rest of his team shot seven of 23 for the half.

With under a minute remaining in the half, Augustin had his jumper blocked from behind by Shipp, but was able to steal Kevin Love's outlet pass. The steal turned into the final points of the half as James converted one of two free throws to give Texas a 37-25 lead at the break.

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