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UCLA Bruins @ Washington State Cougars Basketball Recap

UCLA 58, Washington State 54 (OT)

In the Pacific Northwest, sports fans reserve a phrase for certain kinds of occasions. Whenever Washington State gives away a game between the painted white lines, the locals say that Wazzu “Couged it.” Simply stated, the Cougars reprised their Santa Claus act this weekend and sabotaged their own season in the process.

Two late turnovers by Washington State allowed the UCLA Bruins to outlast the Cougars in Pac-10 competition from the Wallis Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington, on Saturday afternoon. The win moved the Bruins to 13-5 in conference play, and they will enter the upcoming Pac-10 Tournament as the two-seed. Washington State, which is on the bad side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, finished the conference campaign at just 9-9 and will have to win the Pac-10 tourney if it expects to go Dancing in 2011.

Playing without its leading scorer and leader, Klay Thompson, who was suspended for suspicion of marijuana possession, Washington State used a tremendous level of Senior Day energy to take a 13-point lead into the halftime locker room, 32-19. The Cougars, who were looking to break a 17-game home losing streak to the Bruins, looked to be in good position.

Enter UCLA, stage left. The hoopsters from Hollywood flipped the script and wrote a cliffhanger ending that their Los Angeles-based fans could appreciate.

The Bruins roared back with a dominating second-half performance to send the game to overtime; Washington State had a chance to win just before the buzzer but couldn’t drive home the dagger. UCLA then gained a three-point advantage with just over a minute left in overtime before Faisal Aden’s three tied the game up for head coach Ken Bone’s Cougars.  Down the stretch, as it seemingly always has been when the Bruins and Cougars meet in Pullman, it was UCLA which made all the plays.

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A steal by the Bruins with just under 10 seconds left led to a fast break, a Wazzu foul, and two foul shots by UCLA’s Malcolm Lee. The pair of charity pitches broke a tie and gave the visitors a 56-54 edge with 6.9 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbounds pass for Wazzu, Lee grabbed yet another steal against the panicky and collapsing Cougars, who withered under the heat of crunch-time pressure. Lee was fouled again, and he calmly proceeded to sink two free throw attempts with just under four seconds on the clock to seal the victory and land a devastating blow to WSU’s tourney hopes. Washington State "Couged it" at the wrong time.

Reeves Nelson continued his hot play for head coach Ben Howland’s Bruins, scoring 23 points on a supremely efficient 10-of-13 from the field. Washington State was led by Brock Motum’s 15 bench points. Both teams struggled shooting the ball afternoon, but UCLA’s defense – and Washington State’s penchant for slipping on the banana peel in meaningful moments – made the difference in this Pac-10 regular-season finale.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer