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From Ben Bolch: A special day needed a big moment.
Leave it to the tallest Bruin to deliver a handful in his own tribute to Bill Walton.
With UCLA clinging to a narrow lead over Ohio State midway through the second half Sunday, Aday Mara took a pass from teammate Skyy Clark and pivoted for a dunk. The 7-foot-3 center followed with another move in which he finished through contact, converting a layup in which he was fouled.
UCLA’s lead was back up to eight points and the Bruins began to pull away for a 69-61 victory inside Pauley Pavilion on the day they honored the late Walton.
Mara added an emphatic block of Ohio State star Bruce Thornton’s driving layup, a steal and a jump hook in the final minutes, the crowd of 9,015 buzzing every time he touched the ball.
“I thought he changed us,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said after Mara helped him notch his 500th career victory. “He definitely infused us with energy and the crowd loves him, so that helped.”
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Long after he dominated for his beloved Bruins, Bill Walton never stopped making UCLA feel special
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Elina Aarnisalo made two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining to give No. 3 UCLA a 67-65 comeback win over Iowa on Sunday.
Lauren Betts finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Kiki Rice added 12 points for the Bruins (26-1, 14-1 Big Ten), who trailed by 12 points twice in the third quarter.
Iowa tied the score at 65 when Lucy Olsen made three free throws with six seconds left. Aarnisalo was fouled when she was tripped by Olsen after she had fallen to the court while trying to defend.
The Hawkeyes were hoping to knock off another top-5 team at home — they defeated No. 4 USC 76-69 on Feb. 2.
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USC BASKETBALL
From Ryan Kartje: When Lindsay Gottlieb was hired at USC in May 2021, her first call went to Rayah Marshall. She was standing in her kitchen in Ohio at the time, uncertain if Marshall, then a McDonald’s All-American, would even consider honoring the commitment she’d made to USC’s previous coach.
Gottlieb didn’t have much tangible to sell her on, after all. She’d spent the previous three seasons in the NBA, while USC, once a women’s basketball powerhouse, had spent the previous three decades toiling in relative obscurity. All Gottlieb had to show Marshall was a vision of what USC could be.
Fortunately for USC’s coach, Marshall could see what she saw then. Almost four years later, as Marshall emerged from the Galen Center tunnel for her final regular season home game, that vision was almost fully realized. The former Lynwood High star had been there for it all — the brutal 12-16 debut, the triumphant return to the NCAA tournament in 2022, the arrival of JuJu Watkins and the sudden ascent that followed.
Marshall had been the backbone of that breakthrough, the sturdy foundation on which it had been built. Along the way, the 6-foot-4 center had been content to do the dirty work, swatting shots and vacuuming up the glass as others draped themselves in the glory. But as the whole of Galen Center stood in her honor Sunday, Marshall smiled wide and flexed to the crowd, before raising a bursting bouquet of red roses into the air.
Marshall certainly got her flowers Sunday in an 76-66 win over Illinois, turning in a trademark performance befitting her four years at USC. The senior tallied her fourth double-double of the season, stuffing the statsheet with not just 12 points and 13 rebounds but also five assists and four steals — both team highs.
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Freshman Dylan Harper scored 25 points to guide Rutgers to a 95-85 victory over USC on Sunday night.
Harper made nine of 13 shots with four three-pointers and all three of his free throws for the Scarlet Knights (14-14, 7-10 Big Ten), who have won two straight following a three-game slide. He added nine assists.
Desmond Claude scored 30 points on 12-for-21 shooting to lead the Trojans (14-13, 6-10), who have lost three in a row and five of six. Wesley Yates III had 23 points and made three three-pointers.
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LAKERS
From Dan Woike: Lakers coach JJ Redick told Luka Doncic exactly what he wanted, a “blackout moment” when the superstar gets so lost in a game he starts yelling at no one in particular.
This, in Redick’s mind, would be the signal, the sign that the emotional baggage Doncic has carried since having his life and career upended via a shocking trade was lessening.
“That means he’s back,” Redick said Saturday. “That’s the Luka I know. The killer.”
Redick got his wish in the Lakers’ 123-100 win against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Saturday, Doncic howling at the Lakers’ bench after effortlessly splashing a step-back three. He snapped at a courtside fan early in the second half as he and the Lakers quickly extinguished a Denver rally. And as he relentlessly hunted Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, he scored in the paint and shook his head at the Nuggets to remind them that their plans weren’t working.
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CLIPPERS
Tyrese Haliburton had 29 points and 12 assists for his 16th double-double of the season, Aaron Nesmith scored a season-high 19, and the Indiana Pacers defeated the Clippers 129-111 on Sunday.
Haliburton scored 17 points in the third quarter, when the Pacers (32-23) took a 101-83 lead. The All-Star point guard shot nine of 14 overall with four three-pointers. He buried three-pointers on three consecutive third-quarter possessions as the Pacers opened a 90-69 lead.
The Pacers, who are an NBA-best 16-5 in 2025, had seven players score in double digits. Indiana center Myles Turner returned from a three-game injury absence with 17 first-half points.
The shorthanded Clippers (31-25) were without leading scorer Norman Powell (left knee soreness) and No. 3 scorer Kawhi Leonard (left foot soreness). Powell averages 24.2 points per game and Leonard 16.9.
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GALAXY
From Kevin Baxter: It was just 11 weeks ago that the Galaxy raised the MLS Cup for a record sixth time, an occasion the team celebrated Sunday with a relay of supporters and first responders carrying the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy back to midfield at Dignity Health Sports Park.
A triumphant video played on the stadium’s huge video screens, fireworks filled the air and a dark blue championship banner was unfurled above the southwest grandstands of the newly refurbished stadium.
Then the new season kicked off and all of that suddenly seemed like a distant memory with San Diego FC, an expansion team playing its first MLS game, crashing the Galaxy’s party by riding two second-half goals from Anders Dreyer and a clean sheet from goalkeeper CJ dos Santos to a stunning 2-0 upset before a sellout crowd of 25,244.
The loss was the Galaxy’s first in 22 games at home, dating to the final game of 2023.
“This can’t happen,” coach Greg Vanney said. “This is where we get points, this is where we win. We established that as something that was very important to us, and something we did last year. We don’t lose at home.
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DODGERS
From Mike DiGiovanna: Dustin May screamed into his cap after blowing a 95-mph fastball by Oscar Gonzalez for an inning-ending strikeout on Sunday, and when the Dodgers right-hander returned to the dugout, he was engulfed in a sea of hugs and high-fives.
It seemed like an over-the-top celebration for throwing one scoreless inning in an 8-3 exhibition victory over the San Diego Padres in Camelback Ranch, but only to those who don’t know May’s backstory, of how he underwent a second major elbow surgery in 2023 and suffered a life-threatening health scare in 2024.
“It felt amazing to be back,” May, 27, said after pitching in a competitive big league environment for the first time in 21 months. “Huge, huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. … I’m alive. I’m glad I’m here. It was just a breath of fresh air, like a new beginning.”
May last pitched in a big league game on May 17, 2023, when he was pulled after one inning against the Minnesota Twins because of a flexor pronator strain that required season-ending flexor tendon and Tommy John revision surgery.
May was one week away from a minor league rehabilitation stint last summer when he had what he called a “complete freak accident” on July 10, suffering a serious tear in his esophagus when a piece of lettuce from a salad got lodged in his throat.
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Dodgers giving Korean rookie Hyeseong Kim every chance to succeed
DUCKS
Patrick Kane scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway with a minute left in overtime and the Detroit Red Wings beat Anaheim 5-4 on Sunday night to end the Ducks’ four-game winning streak.
Cutter Gauthier scored twice, including the tying goal on a backhand from the high slot with 53 seconds left. Ryan Strome and Olen Zellweger also scored for the Ducks, who trailed 3-0 and 4-1 before scoring twice in the final 2:16 of regulation with Lukas Dostal pulled for an extra skater.
Dostal made 31 saves and was backed up by Oscar Dansk, who was recalled on an emergency basis with John Gibson day to day with an upper-body injury, the team announced.
Marco Kasper, Alex DeBrincat and Kane scored during the first 5:06 of the game, the fastest any team has scored three goals this season. Michael Rasmussen added a power-play goal for Detroit, which squandered a late two-goal lead and improved to 8-1-1 in its last 10 games. Alex Lyon made 24 saves.
Anaheim had allowed just six goals during its four-game streak. The Ducks gave up more than four goals for the first time in 14 games after a poor start in which Isac Lundestrom and Brian Dumoulin were sent to the penalty box at 4:21 of the first for tripping penalties.
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Hockey players and celebrities hit the ice in ‘Skate for LA Strong’ wildfire relief benefit
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1960 — Bill Cleary’s four goals lead the United States to a 9-1 victory over West Germany in the hockey championship round of the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.
1967 — Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia shoots 18-for-18 from the field against the Baltimore Bullets, an NBA record for field goals in a game without a miss.
1978 — Kevin Porter of the New Jersey Nets sets an NBA record with 29 assists in a 126-112 victory over the Houston Rockets.
1980 — The United States hockey team wins the gold medal with a 4-2 victory over Finland at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
1982 — Wayne Gretzky scores NHL-record 78th goal of season en route to 92.
1985 — Jim Kelly of the Houston Gamblers passes for a USFL-record 574 yards and five touchdowns in a 34-33 comeback-win over the Los Angeles Express. Kelly completes 35 of 54 passes, including three for touchdowns in the final 10 minutes.
1988 — An unprecedented winner of the 90-and 70-meter individual events, Matti Nykanen becomes the Winter Olympics’ first triple gold medalist in Nordic skiing when Finland wins the new 90-meter team ski jumping event.
1993 — Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings scores his 1,000th career point with two goals and two assists in a 10-7 loss to Buffalo Sabres.
1994 — Lipscomb’s John Pierce becomes college basketball’s career scoring leader with 33 points in his regular-season finale, a 119-102 win over Cumberland. Pierce’s 4,110 points break former roommate Phil Hutcheson’s record of 4,106.
2002 — Svetlana Feofanova breaks the pole vault indoor world record for the fourth time this month, clearing 15 feet, 6 1/2 inches at the Gaz de France meet.
2002 — Canada beats the United States 5-2 for the gold medal in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics. It’s the seventh time Canada has won the gold in its national sport, but the first since 1952.
2006 — Julia Mancuso earns a stunning victory in the giant slalom to salvage a disappointing Olympics for the U.S. women in their final Alpine event of the Turin Games. Mancuso gives the American women their first Olympic Alpine medal since Picabo Street’s gold in the super-G at the 1998 Nagano Games.
2012 — Missy Parkin becomes the first woman to reach the match play finals in the 69th U.S Open at Brunswick Zone-Carolier. Shafer, a 25-year Professional Bowlers Assn. Tour veteran, completes the 26-game qualifying portion of the U.S. Open with a total of 5,825 pins, averaging at a 224.04 pace.
2018 — Ester Ledecka wins the second leg of an unheard-of Olympic double, taking the gold medal in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom to go with her surprise skiing victory in the Alpine super-G earlier in the games. The Czech star is the first to win gold medals in both sports.
2018 — The United States wins the Olympic gold medal in men’s curling in a decisive upset of Sweden. John Shuster skips the United States to a 10-7 victory for only the second curling medal in U.S. history.
2020 — Memorial service for Kobe Byrant held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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