COUGARS

Well that was interesting. The pace of the first half was glacial at times, as both teams emphasized transition defense and retreated into zones – the entire half for UCLA, much of the middle for WSU. That pace made it hard for the Bruins to pull away, despite playing markedly better. The Cougars had a couple chances to lead after falling behind by five in the first 5 minutes. But an offensive drought late – WSU went more than 3 minutes without scoring – allowed the Bruins to build a nine-point lead. A couple of 3-pointers by Nik Koprivica and Klay Thompson helped the Cougars crawl back to the halftime margin. ... Thompson is the focal point of UCLA's 2-3 matchup and it's worked. The sophomore has just six points on 1-of-8 shooting. Reggie Moore has taken up the slack with 12 points, but that's it, as DeAngelo Casto has not scored – and played just over half the time. Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, who beat UW with a late jumper Thursday, leads UCLA with eight points. We'll be back after the game.

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