Arizona Gets the Rebound and the Victory Over UCLA : College basketball: Wildcats miss one free throw, but they make the most of second chance to beat Bruins, 82-80, in Pacific 10 opener.

Ray Owes, a sophomore forward from San Bernardino High, made two free throws with 13 seconds to play Thursday night, giving Arizona an 82-80 victory over UCLA before a crowd of 9,256 at Pauley Pavilion.

Chris Mills, a senior forward from Fairfax High, scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Wildcats, making 13 of 18 shots in the Pacific 10 Conference opener for both teams.

UCLA rallied from a five-point deficit in the last 3 1/2 minutes, taking an 80-79 lead with 59 seconds to play on a layup by Ed O’Bannon, but Arizona’s Ed Stokes made a free throw to tie the game with 21 seconds left.

Stokes missed his second shot, but Arizona got the ball back when the rebound bounced out to guard Khalid Reeves.

Damon Stoudamire took a pass from Reeves and got the ball inside to Owes, who was fouled by Bruin reserve Rodney Zimmerman.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think about all the ones I didn’t make this season,” said Owes, who had made only nine of 20 free throws going into the game. “For some reason, I didn’t feel the pressure. They handed me the ball (and) I just thought about making them. I guess it worked.”

The game ended after a three-point shot from the right wing by UCLA’s Mitchell Butler rimmed out with less than five seconds to play.

Stokes and Reeves both scored 12 points for Arizona, which got 10 points, 11 assists and no turnovers from Stoudamire, its point guard.

“Arizona played as well as I’ve seen all year, but I can’t fault our kids’ effort,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said.

O’Bannon led the Bruins, making 10 of 13 shots and scoring a career-high 29 points, 18 in the second half.

UCLA’s point guard, Tyus Edney, was almost the equal of Stoudamire, finishing with 15 points, seven assists, five steals and one turnover.

UCLA, which rode an early January victory over Arizona last season to its first Pac-10 championship since 1987, is 9-3 overall.

Arizona, seeking its sixth conference title in eight seasons after finishing third last season behind UCLA and USC, is 6-2.

The Wildcats struggled at the start of the season.

They were defeated by No. 13 Arkansas in their opener, 86-80, at Tucson, suffering only their second loss in 81 games in the McKale Center, and then then were beaten at Providence, 81-66.

They won by less-than-impressive margins over West Virginia and Rhode Island last week.

But Coach Lute Olson, who used several lineups while trying to find the right playing combination, expressed only mild concern earlier this week.

“We’ve played a lot of freshmen and we’ve played a lot of close games, which has given them a good opportunity to play in pressure situations,” said Olson, whose team was the preseason pick of many to win the Pac-10 title.

The biggest crowd of the season at Pauley Pavilion watched Arizona score in each of its first five possessions--four layups, two by Owes, and a three-point shot by Stoudamire--to open an 11-4 lead.

Meanwhile, UCLA center Richard Petruska, playing in his first Pac-10 game after transferring from Loyola Marymount, made three turnovers in the first 4:01 and was benched in favor of sophomore George Zidek.

The Bruins then rallied, getting three three-point shots during the next seven minutes, two by Butler, who was two of 18 from long range before Thursday, to take a 24-21 lead with nine minutes left in the half.

Arizona led at the half, 41-40.

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Bruin Notes

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick, on the game’s 9 p.m. start, to accommodate an ESPN telecast: “If TV says (to start at) 3 o’clock, you ask, ‘a.m. or p.m.?’ ” . . . Harrick, commenting on the parity in the Pac-10, predicted that the conference champion would probably lose four or five games. . . . Before Thursday, average attendance at UCLA home games this season was 6,259. Away from Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins have attracted an average of 17,234, including 28,885 for a game against Georgia last month at the Georgia Dome.

Walk-on David Boyle, a former Mater Dei High guard who transferred to UCLA after playing at Holy Cross and Cypress College, has been given a scholarship after making the travel squad last month. . . . UCLA and Arizona will not meet again until March 13 at Tucson, the final game of the regular season for both.