CORVALLIS, Ore. ““ It was just one play, but it summed up No. 8 UCLA’s 85-62 win over a struggling Oregon State team on Saturday night.
Just before the Beavers converted a free throw, junior Darren Collison said one word to Kevin Love, and before Oregon State had a chance to get back on defense, Collison received an outlet pass from Love and scored two of his career-high 33 points for the Bruins.
“I said, “˜Gumbo,'” Collison said. “He knew what I was talking about and he just threw it up there.”
The play was one that the two came up with at the adidas Nations Camp in New Orleans this past summer.
The close friendship between the two has created a chemistry that is slowly showing after knee and hip injuries slowed down Collison earlier in the season.
But when asked about the play, Love, who set a UCLA freshman record with 21 rebounds on Saturday ““ breaking the record of 18 that he had established just two nights earlier against Oregon ““ just smiled, declining to go into too much detail about the play’s specifics.
“He told you about that?” Love laughed. “We can’t be telling our secrets. It’s just a little outlet play that we have. It’s all about the gumbos, that’s all I can say.”
With the loss, Oregon State (6-14, 0-8) dropped its 10th straight game and remains winless in the Pac-10. Meanwhile, the Bruins (18-2, 6-1 Pac-10) recorded their second straight win, and remain unbeaten on the road so far this season, with a 7-0 record away from Pauley Pavilion, including two road sweeps in conference play.
“I felt like we came out and had a very successful weekend,” Love said. “Anytime you can win both games on the road in the Pac-10, that’s big.”
The sailing wasn’t so smooth for the Bruins throughout, however, as the Beavers got off to an early lead and later took a 33-32 lead on a 3-pointer with 4:34 left in the first half.
But it was Collison who helped keep the Bruins on top through much of the first half, scoring 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting and hitting all seven of his free throws. The Bruins gave up 39 points in the first half, the most given up by the team this season, with the previous high being 37 when UCLA played host to Texas.
But the Bruins were quick to make adjustments on the defensive end when they came out of the locker room to start the second half, holding the Beavers without a field goal over the first eight minutes of the period.
“That was a tremendous second half,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said after the game. “It was a good team effort. I think we really did a good job in the second half defensively, on the boards, sharing the basketball.”
Howland felt that the Bruins’ success over the course of the weekend was due in most part to the poise of Collison, and his ability to control the tempo in both games.
The junior point guard is only now beginning to feel completely comfortable and relaxed. In previous games Collison had looked tentative at times due to the injuries he sustained, as they limited his mobility and ability to be more of a threat to opposition.
“The frustrating thing is that I had trouble with injuries,” Collison said. “You really can’t do the moves you (normally) can do, you can’t be explosive.
“Now I feel healthy, I feel near 100 percent. It’s a whole lot different when you’re physically healthy.”
And with Collison playing the way he is, the Bruins are feeling much more confident with their chances, as Love is beginning to see sparks of a connection that began to blossom before he even came to Westwood.
“We showed it (in) New Orleans at the adidas Nations Camp that when we play together, we can have something special,” Love said. “When Darren’s moving with the rest of the team like he’s doing right now, we have a chance to be a real special team, and hopefully we can take it really far.”