PHILADELPHIA, March 20 (UPI) -- Josh Shipp scored 16 points Thursday and UCLA survived a dramatic comeback to nip Virginia Commonwealth 65-64 in the NCAA Tournament's first round.
The sixth-seeded Bruins held a nine-point lead with 4 minutes to play and wound up having to play tremendous defense to keep the 11th-seeded Rams from pulling out a victory at the buzzer.
UCLA had only a one-point lead when it committed a shot-clock violation with 12 seconds to go, thus giving Virginia Commonwealth an opportunity to pull out the win.
Eric Maynor, who led the Rams with 21 points, was the obvious choice to take the final shot and UCLA's Darren Collision got in Maynor's face without drawing a foul.
Maynor's attempt to steal the victory, launched over Collision's outstretched hand from 15 feet away, barely drew iron as the horn sounded.
UCLA (26-8) earned a second-round meeting with Villanova, which had to overcome a 14-point deficit in the second half to escape against American University.
Jrue Holiday added 11 points for the Bruins, who shot only 40 percent from the field but made 17-of-19 attempts from the foul line.
