SEATTLE “”mdash; Darren Collison wanted to take over.
With his team down two at Washington and six minutes remaining, UCLA’s senior point guard wanted to step up offensively, much like he did Thursday at Washington State.
Only this time, he couldn’t.
“They knew it was coming,” he said.
Washington extended its man-to-man defense to near halfcourt because it wanted to keep the ball out of Collison’s hands. It worked. The senior finished with 12 points, but he couldn’t facilitate as much as he
normally does and he had trouble
penetrating the Husky defense.
Collison shot only 5-for-14 from the field. He has struggled here in each of the last three seasons, and UCLA lost all of those games.
Last season at Washington, Collison scored only three points in 38 minutes. In 2007, he shot an abysmal 2-for-15, and the Bruins closed their season with a loss.
“We know that he is the head of their offense,” senior Washington guard Justin Dentmon said of Collison. “You cut off the head, and the body won’t operate. We knew if we take him out of the game, we will be able to get stops.”
Washington guards freshman Isaiah Thomas, sophomore Venoy Overton and Dentmon switched off covering Collison, matching his speed and quickness. They didn’t allow him to take any open jump shots, and they’re pressure clearly bothered the entire Bruin offense.
“It bothers them a lot,” Dentmon said. “We know that they are a half-court team, and we’re good at defending in the half court, so we try keep them in the half court and not let them get into transition and get easy buckets.”
Collison said the Washington defense was more conscious of his ability to penetrate off the dribble. Their strategy essentially forced the ball out of Collison’s hands.
In the five minutes when Washington scored 12 straight points and broke the game open, Collison attempted only one shot. And the Huskies’ pressure troubled more than just the Bruins’ senior point guard. UCLA’s big men weren’t able to screen as much on the perimeter, and their shooters struggled to create open shots.
“It was giving us trouble on a few of our plays,” senior guard Josh Shipp said. “It’s a distraction.”
Collison, normally the Bruins’ steadiest player, seemed rattled at times. He lost track of Thomas on one play, and Thomas nailed a three-pointer. After a steal, he dribbled carelessly upcourt, and Dentmon picked his pocket.
“I guess he just thought everyone was ahead of him,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
By the end of the game, Collison seemed extremely frustrated. He fouled out for the first time this year, and at one point seemed totally stunned that a foul had been called against him.
Shrewdly, the Huskies had planned to stop him, and it worked, as they pulled off an upset of No. 13 UCLA.
“He stands at the top and gets everybody in the right positions. If you put a hand out there, it distracts him and he has to get rid of the ball sooner than he’d like to,” Dentmon said.
And afterwards, Collison was outspoken. He knows the Bruins need to improve offensively.
“We gotta get to the line more, we gotta penetrate more, we gotta get to the basket more,” he said. “We gotta make something happen.”