No. 11 UCLA tops No. 6 SMU, 60-59

UCLA 60, SMU 59: Bryce Alford’s career-high ninth 3-pointer came on a controversial call with 11.7 seconds left and lifted the Bruins past the Mustangs in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 in Louisville, Ky.

SMU (27-7) opened the door with a turnover and Alford got a good look from the left wing but the ball appeared to be sailing wide of the rim when Mustangs center Yanick Moreira reached up and tipped it away, drawing a goaltending call and putting UCLA (21-13) on top. Alford finished with 27 points, Norman Powell added 19 and Kevon Looney grabbed 10 rebounds for the 11th-seeded Bruins, who will face No. 14 seed UAB in the round of 32 on Saturday.

Nic Moore scored 24 points but came up short on two jumpers in the final seconds as the Mustangs fell short. Marcus Kennedy added 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Moreira finished with eight rebounds for SMU.

Moore buried three 3-pointers and totaled 11 points during a 19-0 run that pushed the Mustangs in front 53-44 with 4:34 to play. Powell ended UCLA’s drought with a layup and found Alford for a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four points but SMU restored a seven-point advantage with 1:26 left before going scoreless the rest of the way.

The Bruins took a 34-30 lead into the half and extended it out to a 10-point edge on Looney’s putback just over five minutes into the second. Four straight points from Powell restored UCLA’s 10-point cushion with under 13 minutes to play before the Bruins went scoreless over the next 8 1/2 minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: SMU was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993 and looking for its first trip to the round of 32 since 1988. … Alford went 9-of-11 from 3-point range while the rest of the Bruins combined to go 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. … The Mustangs forced 18 turonvers but hurt themselves with a 12-of-20 effort from the free-throw line.