For the second straight year, St. Mary's opened the John R. Wooden Classic with a close victory over San Diego State.

Leading by as much as 12 in the first half, the Gaels prevailed for a 67-64 in a what became a tight battle in the final minutes at Honda Center. After San Diego State briefly took a one-point lead with more than two minutes remaining, St. Mary's closed out the game on a 6-2 run for the win.

"It was down to a two-minute game and each possession was valuable," said St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett, whose team beat San Diego State 69-64 to open last year's Wooden Classic. "Our guys have been in a lot of big game and close games. I wasn't worried."

Down 62-61 with 1:54 remaining, Gaels leading scorer and reigning West Conference Player of the Week Patrick Mills hit a jumper from the top of the key to put his team on top for good. Senior Diamon Simpson and junior Omar Samhan each followed with buckets to push the lead to five with 24 seconds to go.

St. Mary's senior forward Diamon Simpson had a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds in the win.

The Aztecs still had some fight left, as freshman Tim Shelton converted a layup and got fouled with 11 seconds left. Shelton, who had a team-high 17 points - 12 of which came in the second half- missed his attempt from the charity stripe, but San Diego State was able to reclaim possession. With time winding down, Lorenzo Wade's try at a game-tying three pointer came up short, as did the ensuing putback attempts by the Aztecs.

"We had great fight in the second half," San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher said. "I'm proud of our effort, but effort alone doesn't get you a victory. It was another one that could have been. Hopefully this will be a growing experience for our team."

Senior Diamon Simpson had a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds for St. Mary's, who improved to 7-1 in the early season."Basically, I just focus on rebounding," Simpson said. "There were a few possessions where they left me and I got rebounds."

Mills, a sophomore who played for the Australian Olympic team in the summer, played the entire 40 minutes for the Gaels, scoring 15 points. His continued presence on the court throughout gave his teammates confidence they could pull out the win.

"It's nice because he is so confident and relaxed out there," Gaels sophomore Mickey McConnell said. "He lives for games like this where he can come out, play well and play against a great team."

San Diego State's Tim Shelton scored 12 of his team-high 17 in the second half.

While the defeat was San Diego State's second straight and dropped their overall season record to 8-3, there was many positives they took away from the 15th annual John R. Wooden Classic Presented by Toyo Tires.

Along with clawing back into the game and making it interesting in the final minutes, the Aztecs also played extremely efficient, only turning the ball over four times in the game.

"That usually will put you in the winner’s circle," Fisher said. "We talk about turnovers, rebounding and free throws. We were great on the one, pretty good on the other and awful on the third (4-for-12 as a team from the free throw line) Against a good team, that was the difference."

Above all, the experience of playing in an event with Coach Wooden's name was something both players and coaches from both sides were privileged to be part of.

"John Wooden has made history," Aztecs senior Kyle Spain said. Everyone respects for what he’s done in the past. It’s an honor to be in this Classic."

Said Bennett, "Coming down here is a great event for our guys. As much as 20-year-old guys can grasp how impressive a person Coach Wooden is, I think they do. We’re thankful for the chance to do that."

Behind their trademark defense that stifled DePaul for much of the game, No. 14 UCLA cruised to a 72-54 victory in the 15th annual John R. Wooden Classic.

With the exception of an early 4-3 advantage for DePaul, the Bruins held the lead the rest of the game and improved to 6-2 on the early season. The win was also the fourth straight for UCLA in the event that carries the name of their legendary former coach.

"No. 1 I’m really glad we won," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "To come out of finals and have to play a talented team like DePaul, I was worried about this game. We did a good job getting stops. Our defense was very good in the first half in particular."

UCLA put the clamps on DePaul's offense right out of the gate, holding the Blue Demons to just 38 percent shooting from the field and 19 points in the first half. Scoring 35 points on their side of the floor, the Bruins built a lead that proved to be insurmountable.

"As I told our kids, they play defense as well as any team we’ll play this season," DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright said. "UCLA has a great program, great team and are very well coached. I think that was great opportunity for us to move forward as a young program and hopefully grow from this game."

Wainwright noted the play of UCLA's three senior leaders - Josh Shipp, Darren Collison and Alfred Aboya - as critical components to the Bruins' effort in the game. "They have three seniors that are really battle-tested," said Wainwright of the class that has been to the Final Four each of the last three season. "They really stand out in my mind as steady players. They let the game come to them. I also think they really raise the level of their younger players."

One of UCLA's best young players, highly-touted freshman Jrue Holliday, enjoyed one of his best games yet in a Bruins uniform with a game-high 14 points (along with Shipp) and six assists.

Recently, Holiday said he was looking to be more aggressive on the offensive end of the floor and it showed early against DePaul. The 6-3 guard hit the first shot of the game (a three-pointer) and had nine of the team's 35 points at halftime.

"I felt that I started attacking early," Holiday said. "I was just trying to cut through the zone to get in the middle and distribute the ball, as well as look for my shot."

Also getting Holiday fired up early was his matchup against sophomore Dar Tucker, who entered the game leading DePaul with 20.3 points per game. Against the defensive pressure of Holiday and the Bruins, Holiday scored a season-low 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

"I think that is what motivated me and got my juices going, trying to take on the challenge of guarding a really good player," Holiday said.

After beginning the year 4-0, DePaul has now dropped their last four contests and stands at 4-4 on the season. Sophomore Mac Koshwal had a team-high 12 points (on a perfect five-for-five from the field and two-for-two from the free throw line) and eight rebounds for the Blue Demons in the loss.

Before joining the Bruins on the Honda Center floor at the conclusion of the game for a trophy presentation, Coach Wooden received a much-deserved standing ovation from the crowd of 14,163 with 2:48 left in the game. Shortly after, Wooden's great-grandson Tyler Trapani (a freshman guard for UCLA) was inserted into his first career game with the Bruins and had one shot attempt that missed.

"Any time you are in Coach Wooden’s presence, it’s a special thing," Shipp said. "This Classic is really good for us to be in. He’s the greatest coach ever and we just feel honored."

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