January 13, 2008 in Sports

Bruins hand No. 4 Cougars first loss – and reality check

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Associated Press photo

UCLA’s Josh Shipp goes for a layup against WSU’s Daven Harmeling during the first half of the Bruins’ victory. Associated Press
(Full-size photo)

LOS ANGELES – Since James Naismith hung the peach basket in the Springfield Y, rarely has a basketball game’s final score held less significance.

The scoreboard in Pauley Pavilion on Saturday afternoon read UCLA 81, WSU 74, but the sellout crowd of 12,590 knew that this top-five showdown wasn’t really a seven-point game.

Even WSU coach Tony Bennett, who saw his fourth-ranked Cougars hit seven consecutive 3-pointers in the final 1 minute, 33 seconds, pulling as close as three points, knew better. He told his team so.

“I told our guys, ‘Nice job on the flurry coming back, but don’t lose the meaning of the message,’ ” he said. “When it was really game time, we couldn’t hang in there.”

The message the fifth-ranked Bruins wanted to send was simple: This was still Pauley and they were still the Pac-10’s dominant team, especially defensively.

“Our defensive intensity and pressure early in the game set the tone,” coach Ben Howland said

The speed of the Bruins’ defense was evident in the first 8 minutes. They forced four WSU turnovers – Washington State came in third in the nation, averaging 10.4 turnovers per game – in the Cougars’ first seven possessions.

Before Bennett called timeout, WSU was down 11-1 and the venerable arena was rocking.

“We could not get stops,” Bennett said. “We pride ourselves on trying to make people work to get contested shots, and they pretty much got what they wanted.”

Of UCLA’s first 11 points, 6-foot-10, 271-pound freshman post Kevin Love had four, a taste of things to come.

After Taylor Rochestie hit WSU’s first basket at the 11:23 mark, a 10-foot floater converted while falling out of bounds, and Aron Baynes scored on a post move, UCLA put together an 8-0 run over 3 minutes that put the Bruins up 26-8.

“They do what we try to do, we try to make the other team make really tough shots,” Rochestie said. “They executed their defense. You saw the intensity from Ben Howland, yelling at them on defense and stuff, picking up the intensity of the players. They were getting down and defending. That’s what a good, high-caliber team does.”

A good, high-caliber team also rallies, and that’s what the Cougars (14-1, 2-1 in the Pac-10) finally did.

After leading by 18 early in the second half, the Bruins (15-1, 4-0) kept the margin in double figures over the next 15 minutes.

When Darren Collison hit a runner in the key with 2:34 left, the Bruins led 68-53 and the aisles started to fill.

That’s when the Cougars connected on seven 3-pointers (13 for the game). Derrick Low started it with a straight-on 21-footer and Daven Harmeling finished it with a 25-foot fallaway to cut the UCLA lead to 77-74 with 13.6 seconds left.

Love then took control, hitting two free throws before Low’s desperation 3 ended the skein and WSU’s hopes.

Lowfinished with 24 points, including 7 of 10 3-pointers.

“I don’t think anybody likes to lose, but we went out fighting,” said Kyle Weaver, the senior defensive leader who fouled out with 22.6 seconds left, and poor shooting (4 of 11).

Love had neither problem, dominating inside like Bill Walton with five post buckets and outside like Reggie Miller, floating off screens to hit 2 of 3 3-pointers. He finished with a career-high 27 points, 14 rebounds and four assists.

“A big part of their offense is the ball screens they run,” Rochestie explained. “To be able to kick it back to Love – not only having to worry about him inside, but also outside is huge.”

Collison, who was a game-time decision after suffering a bruised hip against Washington, added 18 points.

Notes

The 81 points are the most the Cougars have yielded in a regulation game during the Bennett-era, including Tony and dad, Dick. … Washington State fell to 1-69 against top-five ranked teams and 1-50 against UCLA in Los Angeles.

UCLA 81, Washington St. 74

Percentages: FG .520, FT .643. 3-Point Goals: 13-21, .619 (Low 6-9, Harmeling 3-4, Rochestie 3-5, Weaver 1-3). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 3 (Cowgill 2, Baynes). Turnovers: 13 (Low 4, Cowgill 3, Weaver 2, Koprivica 2, Baynes, Harmeling). Steals: 4 (Low 2, Rochestie, Koprivica). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .577, FT .810. 3-Point Goals: 4-9, .444 (Love 2-3, Shipp 2-5, Westbrook 0-1). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (Love 2). Turnovers: 13 (Westbrook 5, Mbah a Moute 2, Collison 2, Mata-Real 2, Love, Shipp). Steals: 6 (Westbrook 3, Mbah a Moute 2, Collison). Technical Fouls: None. Halftime – UCLA 35, Washington State 22. A – 12,590.

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