It was another night to gush over Terrence Ross, the smoothest streaky player in college basketball.

Down 10 with 6:02 remaining, the Washington men's basketball team closed even more impressively than Steve Sarkisian on the eve of football signing day. The Huskies thrilled a raucous crowd with extraordinary defensive pressure late in the game, as well as great composure and the kind of team cohesion and offensive efficiency they lacked for the first 34 minutes. But the most credit for closing goes to Ross, the sophomore guard with bottomless talent.

Ross scored 10 of the Huskies' final 12 points in a 71-69 victory over UCLA at Edmundson Pavilion on Thursday night.

After C.J. Wilcox made four straight free throws to trim the deficit to 65-59, Ross took over. He hit a jumper to make it 65-61. Then he pulled up and made a seemingly effortless three-pointer to make it 65-64. And then came the most athletic play of his explosion -- a twisting bank shot while being fouled. He missed the free throw, but the circus shot gave the Huskies a 66-65 lead.

A steal and Darnell Gant dunk made it 68-65. The Huskies had scored 13 straight points in less than four minutes.

Later, Ross scored the Huskies' final points on another silky three-pointer. He was near perfect at the end. If one of his three-point attempts hadn't gone in and out, the Huskies would've won without drama at the end. They weren't assured victory until UCLA guard Norman Powell missed a baseline jumper in the closing seconds.

Ross finished with 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half. This performance was just as impressive the 26 points he scored in the second half of a 30-point effort against Washington State.

"Terrence got that gleam in his eye, that look, that forces us to get him the ball even though he didn't say anything," coach Lorenzo Romar said.

It's fair to wonder why Ross doesn't do this more often, or why he doesn't go off earlier in games to make it easier on the Huskies. But it's not as simple as a finger snap, even though Ross makes it seem that way. Gant said you shouldn't underestimate Ross' desire to win, which is why he thinks the guard plays so well in the second half of games.

"People sleep on the fact that he has a will to win," Gant said. "I see it in him all the time. In conversations I have with him, I hear the things he's saying. He wants to win so bad.

"We always tell him he can't find a bad shot for himself."

Ross loves the pressure at the end.

"Everything is on the line," he says. "You've got to give it everything you have."

On this night, he saved the Huskies (15-7, 8-2 in the Pac-12) from a home loss. If Washington's turnaround is to include a Pac-12 regular-season title (probably the key to ensuring an at-large NCAA bid), it needs to sweep its final home games. A loss would've been devastating in that regard.

But Ross wasn't going to let his team lose.

"We've come a long way, so we have to fight to stay where we're at," Ross said.

The Huskies like doing things the hard way, so it will be a helluva fight. Better hope Ross has a few more hot streaks left.

"The way I step up is scoring," Ross said. "I accepted the challenge."

Check out The Brewery tomorrow for more on this game and the state of the Huskies.