Cougar guard keeps low profile

Derrick Low came up huge for Washington State in the Cougars’ first game against the Bruins back in December.

UCLA was determined to make sure it didn’t happen again.

Low was completely shut down Thursday, primarily by Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison. He scored just two points (on a bank-in jump shot from the free-throw line) on 1-8 shooting and had two turnovers, four fouls and zero assists.

“(Low’s) a good player,” Collison said. “You never know what he’s going to do ““ he can take you off the dribble, he can come off screens. … We just wanted to keep a sense of urgency guarding him coming off those screens. I thought we did a good job of that.”

Low, a junior guard, came into the matchup as the Cougars’ leading scorer at 13.9 points a game. He led all scorers with 14 points in the Bruins’ narrow 55-52 victory back in December.

This time around, it was a much different story. Afflalo, Collison, sophomore forward Josh Shipp and sophomore forward Michael Roll all had stints against Low and were equally as effective.

In the limited time that Roll was guarding Low, he was able to force a turnover and earn his fourth career block on a Low jump-shot off of a screen.

Afflalo had a particularly tough assignment, switching off guarding Low and junior guard Kyle Weaver, depending on the personnel in the game.

“Those are two potential Pac-10 players of the year,” Afflalo said. “It’s a tough job, a little tiring, but you have to fight through it. I got great help from my teammates.”

Whereas Weaver’s offensive job is to attack the rim both with the ball and on the offensive glass, Low gets his points by shooting and coming off of screens. Afflalo had to tough through 35 minutes guarding both of the Cougars’ best two players, adjusting to their different styles.

“I had tunnel vision a little bit (guarding Low),” Afflalo said. “I wanted to be right on his hip for every movement.”

With the way UCLA’s offense slumped in the first half and the end of the second half, the defense against Low proved to be a big difference in the game

AFFLALO ON WATCHLIST: Afflalo is beginning to get national recognition for his performance this season.

Afflalo was named as one of six finalists by the United States Basketball Writers Association for the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy. The award goes to the top player in the nation.

Other candidates include Texas freshman Kevin Durant, Ohio State freshman Greg Oden, North Carolina sophomore Tyler Hansbrough, Florida junior Joakim Noah and Wisconsin senior Alando Tucker.

The Robertson Trophy is the oldest Player of the Year award in college basketball, debuting in 1959.

DICK BENNETT HONORED: Dick Bennett may not be Washington State’s coach any more, but the Cougar fan base still recognizes the contribution he made to the state of the program this season.

Bennett was given the honorary alumnus award prior to the game and received a long, loud standing ovation from the crowd. He coached the Cougars for three seasons from 2003-2006 before handing over the job to his son, Tony Bennett, this season.

DRIBBLERS: Thursday’s game was the fourth crowd of more than 10,000 fans for the Cougars this season. This season is the first since 1983 that the Cougars have had 10,000 people come to a game at Friel Court.

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