Same old Bruins: WSU fades in 2nd half

PULLMAN – Sometimes the recent matchups between Washington State and UCLA have been decided late. Sometimes they have been decided in the first few minutes.

Now you can add a decision based on what WSU coach Tony Bennett called “a little flurry” midway through the second half.

Yet, no matter when or how they’ve been decided, the last eight games between the schools have been decided in the Bruins’ favor.

Such was the case again Thursday night, as that Bennett-labeled little flurry lasted 3 minutes, 21 seconds on the game clock, but in UCLA’s 67-59 victory, it seemed to last forever for the Cougars.

“For us seniors, this was our last guaranteed shot at those guys,” said Robbie Cowgill of UCLA, the only Pac-10 school his class doesn’t have a win over. “I don’t really want to leave here never having beaten them, but it looks like that might be the case.

“It’s frustrating.”

Doubly so, because up until that point, another snow-limited crowd of 9,547 at Beasley Coliseum saw little separating the 17th-ranked Cougars and the fifth-ranked Bruins.

One point actually, following Kyle Weaver’s crowd-revving reverse layup around UCLA freshman star Kevin Love with 7:40 left.

At that point, despite UCLA’s 23-13 domination on the boards (29-20 at game’s end) and another yeoman effort by the Bruins’ Love (16 points, nine rebounds), the Cougars trailed just 46-45.

But, over their next four possessions, WSU had only a single shot, Daven Harmeling’s baseline runner that bounced long. The other three possessions, the Cougars, one of the nation’s best at taking care of the ball, turned the ball over.

“It was a crucial turning point,” Bennett said. “We were taking care of the ball and I thought we were even breaking them down a little offensively.

“But UCLA, you make a mistake or turn it over, and they make you pay.”

The Bruins (21-2, 9-1 and atop the conference) sure did in that stretch.

“It was because of stops,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said of the run. “We played good defense, got stops, even though it might not look like it from the stats.”

After Weaver’s basket, Bruin guard Josh Shipp isolated Taylor Rochestie inside and scored.

Harmeling missed, but Weaver picked Darren Collison’s pocket. Alfred Aboya returned the favor, taking the ball away from Harmeling.

Love then got inside and forced Aron Baynes’ fourth foul. Love made both free throws. Russell Westbrook, who struggled early against Weaver’s defense, followed by stealing a Weaver pass and taking it the distance for another score.

Collison then stole the ball from Derrick Low – WSU had 14 turnovers, four over its average – and the Bruins, who finished with 12 offensive rebounds, played volleyball on the glass, with Love finally converting their fourth attempt.

The lead had been stretched to 54-45 and UCLA was on its way to its fifth consecutive win.

The Cougars (17-5, 5-5) are going the other way, having lost three in a row with USC, 6-4 in conference, coming in Saturday. That’s despite WSU shooting 52 percent from the floor, the Cougars’ best shooting game in conference play.

Early on it looked like the seniors might just have one game to hang their hat on, especially Weaver, who came out with a fire on both ends.

The first half was back-and-forth, with no team leading by more than four. UCLA was the first to get that margin, using a Lorenzo Mata-Real dunk to go up 16-12.

The Cougars fought back, going on an 8-2 run behind Weaver and Rochestie to lead by two. They expanded that to four as Weaver started to take over, either scoring (finishing with a team-high 13 points) or assisting (seven total) on six consecutive WSU points.

With less than a minute left, WSU led 26-22. And then the Cougars forced a bad shot by Alfred Aboya. But Love came through for the Bruins, grabbing the rebound, scoring and drawing a foul on Cowgill.

He missed the free throw, but it bounced right back toward him. Love poked it free, Westbrook picked it up and took it to the basket. His dunk tied the score.

It stayed that way, despite Rochestie’s best effort as the clock expired, throwing in a 32-footer that was originally counted, but overruled after the officiating crew viewed the replay.

Baynes, despite being saddled with foul trouble again that limited him to 22 minutes, finished with 11 points and helped limit Love to eight shots. Low, who was off again from beyond the arc – 1 of 5 – added seven and some stellar defense on Collison. The Cougars’ offense featured balance, with all seven players who saw time scoring between 13 and five points.