NEW YORK - Kevin Dillard turned a potential Southern Illinois University layup into a track meet for No. 4 UCLA late Friday night.

With 6:11 to play in the consolation of the 2K Sports Classic and his team down 14, Southern Illinois University's freshman guard drove the left baseline, and appeared headed to cutting into the lead. He ended up further swelling the Salukis' educational weekend at Madison Square Garden by trying to throw the ball back to a teammate toward the 3-point line. UCLA's Josh Shipp easily picked it off in the lane, avoided a defender with a behind-the-back dribble near mid-court, and helped the Bruins beat SIU 77-60.

Shipp found All-American candidate Darren Collison on the fast-break, who found forward Alfred Aboya with another behind-the-back pass for the dunk at the 6:08 mark. Aboya's end to the highlight-reel fastbreak put the Bruins up 16, and showed SIU's newcomers youth is sometimes difficult to overcome.

"Those things are going to happen when you're learning on the job," SIU coach Chris Lowery said.

Dillard had another strong game in his third start of the season, leading SIU with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 28 minutes. The Homewood-Flossmoor High School grad added four rebounds and two assists, but added to the hill the Salukis had to climb against another nationally-ranked opponent with five turnovers.

UCLA (3-1), trying to salvage at least one win in New York City after falling to unranked Michigan on Thursday night, turned 23 SIU turnovers into 25 points.

The Salukis (2-2) trailed by only seven with 8:05 to go, but couldn't find a way to finish for the second straight night against a big-time conference team. Duke pulled away from SIU in the final eight minutes Thursday night.

"We had these guys prepared to play both games," Lowery said. "For us, to kind of self-destruct and hit the panic button at the same time, that was disappointing, but I still gotta keep myself on point, because we are very young. There were times where we had four newcomers with one older guy, and we're going to get better because of that. That's what we have to stay committed to."

Tied at 48, UCLA began one of the biggest runs of the game behind two veterans.

Junior forward Nikola Dragovic hit a 3-pointer to put the Bruins up three with 10:1 to go. SIU failed to score on the ensuing possession, but freshman Ryan Hare drew a charge to get the ball back. Carlton Fay missed a 3, which was rebounded by Collison, UCLA's senior point guard. Collison put UCLA up six with one of his three triples on the night, then padded the lead when he found the basketball near the right corner and no one stepped out to guard him.

"The one key junction there, I think, was Dragovic hit a 3, and then Darren Collison hit two, and we get a nine-point lead," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "That really broke the game open for us at that point."

SIU senior Tony Boyle shot 2-for-9 but scored 10 for the Salukis, who came away from New York empty-handed. Fay added eight points and a rebound in 26 minutes, and Bryan Mullins had seven points, two boards and eight assists in 34 minutes.

Lowery held out freshman Torres Roundtree, as he continued to recover from a bruised knee suffered against Massachusetts.

For the Salukis to get back on the winning track at Western Kentucky on Wednesday night, they'll likely need every newcomer available. Lowery hoped his newcomers' big minutes against No. 10 Duke and fourth-ranked UCLA bode well for the future.

"We just gotta continue to play those young guys. That's what we gotta do. We gotta get 'em better, and we can't let this dictate the rest of our season," Lowery said. "We have to understand that this is a high-end weekend for us, an NCAA tournament weekend for us. And, you know, we stood toe-to-toe with two very historic programs, and they got the best of us in the end."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087