HONOLULU (AP) -- Ritchie McKay had it figured right when he sent his Colorado State Rams against UCLA.

It was time to slow it down and the result was a 55-54 victory Wednesday over the Bruins (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) in the Pearl Harbor Invitational.

	UCLA's Earl Watson finds some room to dribble Wednesday, but Ceedric Goodwyn and Colorado State would have the last laugh.

"We didn't want to get into a running game with UCLA," McKay said as he prepared his squad for the tournament championship. "They have so many weapons and Earl Watson is such a great point guard.

"I felt like the lower the score, the greater our opportunity to win."

The Rams (6-3) appeared they would win comfortably, building a 10-point lead with 4:10 left. But it took a free throw by John Ford with 22.8 seconds left to provide the difference.

After John Sivesand's 3-pointer made it 52-42, UCLA (5-2) went on a 12-2 run, tying it 54 on a 3-pointer by Ray Young.

Jason Kapono had an opportunity to give the Bruins the lead prior to Ford's deciding free throw, but missed a left-handed hook from 10 feet. The freshman also had a chance to win the game with time running out, but his shot from the corner bounced off the rim.

"We had a sense of urgency down the stretch, but it wasn't panic," McKay said. "And I'm glad we were able to pull it out."

Ceedric Goodwyn, undaunted by UCLA's big front line, muscled his way inside to score 18 points, making 8-of-11 shots. Ford finished with 12 points and Sivesind 11.

"We knew they were athletic, big and strong inside, but we're big and take great pride down there" inside, Goodwyn said.

Coach Steve Lavin again expressed dismay on the play of his Bruins.

"In the second half, it was an invert of last night (83-62 over Maine)," he said. "We played very poorly in the second half last night and well in the first half. Tonight, we played very poorly in the first half and played well in the second.

"Putting two halves of sustained effort and execution on both ends of the floor is our goal. That's the missing link. We're not a finished product.

The Bruins trailed 29-20 at the half -- their lowest first-half point total of the season -- then rallied behind the work of Watson and Dan Gadzuric, who finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds.

Although the Rams built a double-digit lead, UCLA kept rallying, capping it with the run that tied the score.

UCLA had a 23-19 edge in field goals and 38-26 in rebounds, but the Rams made 8-of-17 3-pointers to UCLA's 4-of-12.

In its two losses, UCLA scored well under its average of 80.5 points. In its first loss, the Bruins scored only 43 points against Gonzaga.