ESPN Men's Basketball

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored 21 points and UCLA (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) made up an 18-point deficit to beat Davidson 75-63 in the John Wooden Classic on Saturday.

The Bruins (8-1) joined No. 1 North Carolina and Duke, then ranked seventh, as powerhouse programs that got a scare from mid-major Davidson. The Wildcats (3-5) lost by a combined 10 points to the two ACC schools, and had UCLA down the entire first half.

Stephen Curry, the son of former NBA 3-point specialist Dell Curry, led Davidson with 15 points, extending his streak of double-figure games to 35. Jason Richards added 13 points and seven assists, a category in which he leads the nation.

Josh Shipp added 15 points, Russell Westbrook had 14 and Darren Collison 10 for UCLA, which was coming off a two-point loss to Texas last weekend, its first of the season.

The Wildcats shot 52 percent in the first half, when they had UCLA down by 18 on the strength of a 32-14 game-opening run. During one stretch, Bryant Barr and Thomas Sander combined to hit four consecutive 3-pointers.

UCLA's Kevin Love picked up two quick fouls to start the game and the freshman was visibly frustrated on the bench. He spent the rest of the half shuttling in and out before finishing the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Love's putback launched UCLA's 19-6 run that left the Bruins trailing 34-30 at halftime. Mbah a Moute scored eight points, including seven in a row, and the Bruins clamped down on defense, with their double-teams forcing turnovers.

Mbah a Moute hit a 3-pointer early in the second half that gave UCLA its first lead of the game. From there, the teams traded leads until the Bruins went on an 8-0 run to go up 48-41.

UCLA stayed in front the rest of the way, although Davidson kept cutting the lead. Richards hit two 3s and Curry added another to get to 70-63 with 3:20 remaining.

Richards, Sanders and Stephen Rossiter were in foul trouble in the second half, while Curry was limited to eight points in the final 20 minutes.

The Bruins shot 67 percent in the second half, and held the Wildcats to 41 percent while dominating the boards 37-18.

The only other time Davidson and UCLA played was in 1975, Wooden's final season when the Bruins won by 27 points. The 97-year-old coach was helped up to wave at the crowd when he received a standing ovation in the second half.

UCLA improved to 8-3 in its 11 appearances in the doubleheader named for the school's former coach, who guided the Bruins to a record 10 national championships.

St. Mary's beat San Diego State 69-64 in the first game.