PULLMAN, Wash. — UCLA has no answer early for the Cougars’ Brock Motum, who has Washington State up 34-29 at the half.
The 6-foot-10-inch forward, who leads the Cougars in scoring with 16.8 points per game, has hit six-of-10 shots including two 3-pointers to give him 19 first-half points.
UCLA, still looking for a win outside of Southern California, has won 18 straight games here dating back to 1993. But to get a win this year the Bruins will first have to stop Motum, who is hurting the Bruins with his post moves and outside shooting.
Motum also was involved in a testy exchange with UCLA redshirt sophomore center Anthony Stover. Stover ran over Motum for a flagrant foul just seconds after Motum hit a layup over Stover, which ended with a little smack talk by Motum.
Stover got the start in place of an injured Travis Wear. The redshirt sophomore forward and the Bruins’ second-leading scorer is out with a high ankle sprain.
Sophomore center Joshua Smith picked up right where he left off in Seattle. He leads UCLA with 11 first-half points on five-of-five shooting. David Wear has seven points, as does Lazeric Jones, who capped the first half with a two-handed tomahawk slam on a fastbreak over a foul from WSU’s Marcus Capers.