Free-throw shooting still lacking SPOKANE,
Wash. “”mdash; There weren’t many made shots to go around
Thursday, so free-throw shooting was all the more important. Still,
UCLA’s woes at the charity stripe continued. After the
Bruins’ 3-for-9 performance, dropping their conference-worst
season percentage to 60.2, coach Ben Howland said he would continue
to work on the free-throw shooting in a walk-through today before
the Washington game Saturday. “Three-for-9 is something we
have to work on,” Howland said. Forward Trevor Ariza was the
worst of the Bruins on Thursday, going 1-for-6. But guard Janou
Rubin had the most crucial miss, failing to connect on the front
end of a 1-and-1 with 18.9 seconds left in the game and UCLA
leading 46-45. Guard Dijon Thompson eventually hit his two free
throws with 6.3 seconds left to extend the lead. The Bruins
regressed after a 25-for-32 afternoon from the line in
Saturday’s victory against Oregon.
WANNA GET AWAY: UCLA had to rearrange its
Wednesday travel plans into Spokane due to winter storms in the
Pacific Northwest. With the Bruins’ Alaska Airlines flight
through Seattle canceled, they ended up flying in on Southwest
Airlines through Salt Lake City. The team arrived in Spokane only
about 90 minutes later than previously scheduled. No walk-through
was missed, as that was done at Pauley Pavilion.
HOME-COURT DISADVANTAGE: UCLA hasn’t
played in Spokane Arena since 1996 when it beat WSU 78-73. The
Cougars traditionally host their games in Pullman. Thursday marked
the first time they had played a Pac-10 game in the arena since
2001. The result of that contest was an 84-51 loss to Arizona.
DRIBBLERS: UCLA’s 48-45 win was the
lowest scoring affair between both teams since 1938. … The Bruins
are now 7-1 when they out rebound their opponents (33-30 last
night).