Regardless of how little rhythm, how disjointed a game between the Gonzaga and UCLA men's basketball programs may be, the two teams find a way to be within one possession of one another down the stretch.

Like their most recent meetings, however, including a Sweet 16 loss in last season's NCAA tournament, the Bruins continue to find themselves on the short end of the result.

UCLA trailed No. 11-ranked Gonzaga by 11 late in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational before pulling within 66-63 on a Lazar Stefanovic 3-pointer with 56 seconds left.

After getting a steal from Stefanovic for a defensive stop, Bruins point guard Dylan Andrews was unable to convert a mid-range pull-up jump shot with 23 seconds left and the Bulldogs held on Wednesday for a 69-65 victory at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

UCLA (4-2) shot just 35.2% from the field but converted 23 of 31 free throws in a contest that featured 51 fouls nearly split evenly between the teams. Stefanovic and freshman guard Sebastian Mack had 16 points apiece in the loss.

Gonzaga (4-1) got a career-high 32 points from forward Anton Watson, who shot 14 of 15 from the field.

The Bruins are now 2-7 all-time against the Bulldogs. It was the fourth consecutive season the programs have met.

UCLA will return to action next Thursday against UC Riverside in nonconference action at Pauley Pavilion.

Watson, who made his first seven shot attempts, had 12 of Gonzaga's first 15 points as part of a quick start. The Bulldogs opened up a 20-9 lead through the midway point of the first half.

UCLA, which had nine of its first 14 points come from the free-throw line, went eight minutes without a made field goal until freshman reserve Ilane Fibleuil cleaned up a miss for a putback to briefly cut the deficit to 23-16 with 6:34 left in the half.

In a half that was marred by 29 combined fouls, the Bruins shot 17 of 23 at the free-throw line to pull within 38-34 at the break.

Early in the second half, a Stefanovic 3-pointer gave UCLA its first lead, 39-38, since the contest's opening minute.

After trading baskets, Gonzaga then went on a 13-1 run capped by a Watson 3-pointer to open up a 53-42 lead with 11:51 to play.

With 4:25 to play, UCLA started a 10-2 run capped by Stefanovic's 3-pointer inside the final minute for its last push.

The Utah transfer shot 5 of 11 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers and half of his eight rebounds were on the offensive end of the floor.

The French wing showed active hands and the rebounding capabilities that had head coach Mick Cronin raving about his potential in the summer.

Fibleuil had eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 17 minutes off the bench. His play helped the Bruins make their late push.

While there was very little flow in the opening half, Mack did get a circus shot to fall after driving from beyond the 3-point line, around a Kenneth Nwuba screen and having the ball slip out of his hands as he was fouled while surrounded by a host of defenders. The ball shot straight up in the air before falling through the net:

The Bruins are still adjusting to playing with a bigger lineup. Adem Bona and Aday Mara combined for fouls within the first four minutes. The frontcourt, in general, had four players with two fouls apiece just 12 minutes into the contest.

Nwuba eventually fouled out while Bona collected four fouls and failed to record a block or a steal.

At point guard, Andrews was just 2 of 15 from the field for five points to go with four assists.