SPOKANE, Wash. “”mdash; Even on a night when the shots
weren’t exactly falling for UCLA, expectations were
raised.
It has come to be expected that a Ben Howland-coached team
won’t provide a repeat of last season’s misery ““
the 10-19 sort. But now that the Bruins have punched in the clock
on their 48-45 workman-like road win over a scrappy Washington
State team Thursday, they are left with a surprisingly high level
of confidence.
And why not? UCLA (7-3) is a perfect 3-0 in the Pac-10,
including last week’s wins over the Oregon schools at Pauley
Pavilion.
“We expect to win,” Howland said. “We expected
to win those two at home, and we expected to win
tonight.”
It was UCLA’s 22nd straight consecutive over WSU (7-6,
1-2) dating back to 1993, but the Cougars were anything but
cupcakes under first-year coach Dick Bennett, who preaches a
slow-down style of basketball.
That the game-winning shot for UCLA came on guard Cedric Bozeman
lay-in with 1:12 to go shows just how much of a grind the game was.
The Bruins didn’t exactly execute their half-court offense to
perfection, shooting just 36 percent from the field.
Still, when Thomas Kelati’s potentially game-tying
three-pointer at the buzzer clanged off the back rim, it provided
confirmation that the Bruins had actually conformed to
Bennett’s style and survived.
“Thank God that the shot missed,” Howland
said. “We’re very fortunate, but I’m proud
of the character of our guys.”
Said Bozeman, “Coach told us the whole time that we have
to adjust and beat them at their own game.”
UCLA’s Trevor Ariza knew the drill, providing the kind of
clutch defensive play down the stretch that is key to winning close
games. With the Bruins clinging to a 46-45 lead, the freshman
forward stole the ball at half-court from Cougar senior Marcus
Moore, giving UCLA the ball with 18.9 seconds left.
Moore, an NBA guard prospect who with a game-high 13 points
moved into 12th place on WSU’s all-time scoring list, took
the loss hard.
“For the first time in college, I feel like I lost the
game for our team,” said Moore, his head buried in his hands.
“(UCLA) kept us in the game, but I made too many
mistakes.”
Moore also committed an offensive foul with just under a minute
to go and missed a fall-away jumper with 7.1 seconds remaining. He
turned the ball over seven times on the night.
UCLA’s Dijon Thompson, who scored 11 points, made two free
throws with 6.3 seconds left to extend the lead to three.
The Bruins were often in a trance-like state on offense and shot
the ball as frigidly as snow-covered Spokane Arena was, but
thankfully for them, the Cougars were that much worse, shooting at
29.6 percent.
“We shot like we were on the road,” Bennett
said.
UCLA led 20-19 at halftime, with those 19 points being a
season-low for points allowed in a half this season.
The Bruins didn’t do much better, but they are just happy
to get a tough win over an opponent that had them right where it
wanted them.
“We showed maturity,” said Bruin forward T.J.
Cummings, who led UCLA with 12 points. “We didn’t let
ourselves get flustered. It’s not frustrating when we
win.”
UCLA plays Washington on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Seattle.