UCLA Beats Clock and Missouri : West Regional: With 4.8 seconds left, Edney receives inbound pass, takes ball downcourt and scores to lift Bruins to 75-74 victory.

Tyus Edney had 4.8 seconds to get the ball downcourt and either pass or shoot.

He chose the latter option and scored over two Missouri defenders at the buzzer as UCLA survived another early round scare in the NCAA tournament to beat the Tigers, 75-74, Sunday in the second round of the West Regional for their 15th straight victory.

“When we were in the huddle, I heard Ed (O’Bannon) and he said, ‘We’re going to win,’ ” Edney said. “That’s all I thought about.”

Trailing 74-73, Cameron Dollar inbounded the ball to the 5-foot-10 Edney, who dribbled 94 feet and got off a short jumper over 6-9 Derek Grimm and 6-1 Jason Sutherland.

“I gave him the ball and it was like, ‘Go, Tyus, go,’ ” Dollar said.

“I was almost in awe,” Edney said. “Just a great feeling came over me when I saw it drop through the net. This is the sweetest.”

He was mobbed by his teammates and coaches, who carried him off the floor as the stunned Tigers looked on.

“He cut inside at the last second and I didn’t want to foul him, so I just stuck my hands out and got as close to him as I could without making contact,” Grimm said.

The Bruins often practice a six-second drill in which they try to go the length of the court and score.

“I’ve always told my team you can go the length of the court in three seconds,” Coach Jim Harrick said. “They spread the floor on us, and when you spread the floor on Edney, he might make you pay.”

Missouri (20-9) controlled the first half behind Paul O’Liney. The junior college transfer scored 16 points in the first 20 minutes, hitting six of seven from the field. O’Liney led the Tigers with 23 points. Sutherland added 15, including four three-point shots, and Grimm had 13, including two three-pointers that twice gave Missouri the lead in the final 5:16.

“It was a good ballgame, but we don’t want to remember losses,” said Julian Winfield, whose inside basket gave Missouri a 74-73 advantage with 4.8 seconds to play. “That’s not what we’re here for. . . . This is not something we’re going to dwell on the next 10 or 15 years of our lives.”

The Bruins (27-2) have time to savor the victory before playing fifth-seeded Mississippi State, a 78-64 winner over Utah, on Thursday in the final 16 at Oakland.

Harrick, who was criticized for UCLA’s first-round loss to Tulsa last year, refused to be rushed into thinking about the next game.

“I’m just glad to be going to Oakland,” he said. “Just give me a chance to enjoy this.”

Ed O’Bannon led the Bruins with 24 points and Edney added 15.

Missouri moved out to its largest lead, 52-43, early in the second half before UCLA’s defense clamped down. The Bruins ran off 15 straight points, capped by a three-point shot by Edney, for their first lead, 58-52, since the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first half.

Missouri was the No. 1 seed in the West last year, but failed to advance out of the regional.

The Tigers came back with five straight. Grimm scored and Edney committed his fourth foul against Sutherland, who completed the three-point play that drew the Tigers within one point.

O’Bannon’s jumper restored UCLA’s lead to 60-57 with 9:34 remaining.

“We wanted to get some (defensive) stops. They had us on the ropes many times in the game,” O’Bannon said.

The teams traded one-point leads and the score was tied twice for the next five minutes before Grimm’s three-point basket put Missouri ahead, 72-69, with 3:49 remaining.

After a timeout, O’Bannon scored inside to get it back to one. Then O’Liney missed his first three-point shot and Winfield fouled O’Bannon, who converted two free throws for a 73-72 lead with 58.9 seconds left.

Dollar’s foul gave Missouri the ball out of bounds. Kendrick Moore dribbled the ball outside and didn’t hear Coach Norm Stewart call for a timeout. He penetrated and passed to Winfield, who scored for the first time since he left with three fouls in the game’s opening four minutes. That gave Missouri a 74-73 lead with 4.8 seconds left and set the stage for Edney.