UCLA basketball: Bruins win at Washington State ... again
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PULLMAN, Wash. -- In a season of diminishing returns, UCLA can still bank on one thing: Success in Eastern Washington. The way the Bruins played in a 71-51 victory over Washington State on Thursday was a stark contrast to the can-we-make-the-NIT team that has struggled throughout Pacific 10 Conference play.
UCLA shot 66% in winning its 17th consecutive over the Cougars on the road -- 15 coming in Pullman, Wash., and two in Spokane.
Yet the victory came with a downside. The Bruins learned before the game that forward James Keefe would have shoulder surgery, ending his season, and then lost forward Reeves Nelson during the game.
Nelson was injured with 4 minutes 23 seconds left in the first half, after finishing a fastbreak with a dunk. He lost his balance coming down and landed on his face. He went to the locker room under his own power, but holding a towel on his bleeding face.
Nelson, the Bruins’ most effective inside player, did not return. But on this night, his absence was something the Bruins could survive.
The Bruins (12-13 overall, 7-6 Pac-10) have known nothing but success on the road against the Cougars since a 76-73 loss in Pullman in 1993. It hasn’t always been easy, with nine of the last 16 victories decided by five or fewer points. But Thursday’s game was a breeze.
UCLA broke open a close game late in the first half. A dunk by Washington State’s Marcus Capers cut a UCLA lead to 26-24 with seven minutes left. The Cougars (15-11, 5-9) had seven turnovers and two missed shots on their next nine possessions, as UCLA went on a 14-0 run and led, 40-26, at halftime.
UCLA made 16 of 23 shots in the first half and continued to bury shots.
Michael Roll was six of seven from the field and led the Bruins with 15 points. Tyler Honeycutt made all five of his shots. He and Nikola Dragovic each had 14 points.
The Cougars, meanwhile, got little from their top offensive threats.
Klay Thompson, the conference’s second leading scorer, made two of nine shots and finished with eight points. Thompson made only five of 17 shots in a 74-62 UCLA victory at Pauley Pavilion last month. Reggie Moore, who had 24 points in the first meeting, had a 11 points.
-- Chris Foster