Coach Ben Howland added another line next to his name in the UCLA basketball history books Saturday night.
No. 8 UCLA (9-1) cruised to an easy 89-49 victory over Idaho State at Pauley Pavilion in what was Howland’s 100th win with the program.
But Howland was quick to share the credit with the people around him.
“I’ve had great assistants and outstanding players,” he said. “I’m just really excited about the current group of players that we’re working with now. I feel very blessed and fortunate. “¦ I never thought I’d be the head coach at UCLA. It’s such a dream. Not many people get to say that they’re actually living their dream.”
It took the fifth-year coach 142 games to reach the milestone, putting him in a three-way tie for the second quickest in school history with legendary coach John Wooden and Howland’s immediate predecessor, Steve Lavin.
Jim Harrick, who coached at UCLA from 1988 to 1996, holds the school record, reaching the mark in 136 games.
Howland’s quick tally is even more impressive considering that in his first year the team went 11-17, with many of the players left over from the Lavin era and not well-suited to his coaching style.
The coach’s 100th win over the Bengals from Pocatello, Idaho, was decided early on, with the Bruins jumping out to an early lead and not letting up. After guard Russell Westbrook’s opening layup, the game would not be tied again. UCLA had a 17-point lead by halftime, and continued to pour it on in the second half.
The biggest relief for the Bruins on Saturday was to be done with finals so they can focus on nothing but on basketball in the coming weeks.
“It was a tough long week for kids, a grueling week really,” Howland said. “We had kids who were showing up to practice with two and three hours sleep. This is always a hard week when we have a game at the end of finals. I’m just glad we’re through it now.”
The Bruins also some got some strong encouragement from guard Darren Collison’s play. Collison has been trying to get back to his old form after missing a substantial amount of time because of injury. Saturday’s game was a major step in the right direction for him, with the junior totaling 20 points and five assists on the night.
“I really wanted to send a message because everyone was saying how rusty I was,” Collison said. “I knew that wasn’t the case. It’s just a matter of time. I’ll get there.”
The Bruins now look ahead to the Pac-10 schedule, which is less than a month away. With school work done and key players getting back to form, the Bruins are trying to get everything they can from their out-of-conference matchups.
“We have less than three weeks till we play Stanford on the road and we just need to continue to get better," freshman center Kevin Love said. “Every day can be a stepping stone, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. We got better today and we’ll have to come out on Tuesday (against Western Illinois) and play even better.”
DRIBBLERS: Guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid was in street clothes for the game and was wearing a boot on his right foot. Abdul-Hamid has a stress fracture in his foot that he sustained in practice Dec. 6. “¦ Both Collison and senior Lorenzo Mata-Real warmed up wearing Den shirts before the game. “¦ Walk-on Matt Lee ended the game for the Bruins with a half-court buzzer-beater that got a big cheer from the crowd. Lee dribbled around his back, through two defenders, and then hit a half-court shot that went in after time expired.