LOS ANGELES _ The buzzer sounded and Chris Smith looked toward the rafters with clenched fists raised above his head.
Smith's career-high 30 points led UCLA to a 72-68 upset of No. 20 Colorado on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion as the Bruins (11-10, 4-4 Pac-12) ended a four-game losing streak in the series.
The victory is UCLA's first over a ranked opponent since Feb. 8, 2018 when the Bruins knocked off No. 13 Arizona. UCLA had lost six straight against ranked teams.
Although Colorado entered the game with the best rebounding margin in the Pac-12, it was the Bruins who won the boards 39-29. The advantage gave UCLA nine more shot attempts, which overcame the fact that Colorado shot better from the field at 42.2% to UCLA's 38.9%.
After giving up a season-high 96 points to No. 8 Oregon in its last game, UCLA rebounded with one of its best defensive halves of the season to begin the game. The Bruins reached for rebounds, wrestled for loose balls and jumped into passing lanes. Their effort paid off big: two shot-clock violations, five steals and 13 defensive rebounds to Colorado's single offensive rebound.
All this coming against the 20th-ranked team in the country.
The swarming defense contributed to a 16-2 run in the first half, which included 14 unanswered points over more than five minutes.
But with an inexperienced UCLA team against a veteran Colorado squad with four upperclassmen in its starting lineup, it seemed inevitable that the Bruins would collapse.
The implosion happened slowly. A travel. A fouled three-point shooter. A charge. Suddenly UCLA's 15-point lead was just three and the Bruins had committed five turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half after just four in the entire first half.
The Buffaloes got as close as two with 7:22 to go, but UCLA didn't fold this time. The Bruins responded with 11 unanswered points with seven of them coming at the free throw line. UCLA made 25-of-29 free throws, including 20 straight to start the game. Smith made 13-of-15 foul shots.
