UCLA basketball team wins a big one vs. Washington St. and then is stunned by USC (1/08)
It was an up and down week for the UCLA basketball team. First they took on the 4th ranked and unbeaten Washington State Cougars on January 12, 2008. The Bruins got off to an early lead and controlled the game throughout. Freshman star Kevin Love dominated scoring a career high 27 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead a balanced attack. Josh Shipp scored 14; Russell Westbrook added 12 and Darren Collison had 18 points. Collison was questionable before the game with a sore hip but he came out and played great! The game was never in doubt for UCLA until the final couple minutes. The Cougars made an incredible eight consecutive 3-point shots to climb back to within three points but they never got closer. Senior guard Derrick Lowe was quiet the first half as Taylor Rochestie and Kyle Weaver led Washington State in the first half.
As the Bruins poured it on in front of the home crowd, the Cougars were outplayed and only 7 straight three pointers in a minute and a half got them close. Lowe finished with 24 points on 6-9 three point shots including some forced incredible makes late. Center Aron Baynes from Australia was badly outplayed by Love and got in foul trouble. The UCLA fans even enjoyed watching him shoot 2 air ball free throws.
The #5 Bruins will move ahead of Washington State in the Pac 10 standings and also the country rankings. Junior guard Michael Roll is injured and the team is not sure about his return. They made a move to activate James Keefe who was scheduled to red shirt this year to add more depth as he played 10 minutes. Next up was hometown rival USC on January 19th at Pauley Pavillion.
Love and Mayo pictured below from the UCLA-USC game
The USC Trojans came to Westwood and pulled off a huge upset. After starting the year in the top 20 and having one of the nation’s most touted freshman in OJ Mayo (pictured below), USC and Coach Tim Floyd had high hopes. Mayo played a key role scoring 16 points after a slow start but was overshadowed by his freshman counterpart Davon Jefferson. Jefferson scored a career high 25 points and the USC defense led by Taj Gibson slowed down the Bruins.
Kevin Love couldn’t manage his usual strong offensive efforts and was stifled inside. Westbrook and Collison were cold going a combined 6-22 and the frontcourt of Alfred Aboya and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute were pretty much silent. Only Josh Shipp played well scoring 21 points on 7-13 shooting. The Bruins seemed like they had the game in control early but USC wouldn’t go away and closed the gap at halftime. Then the Trojans dominated and pulled away at the end, as their bench was ecstatic.
The big rematch at USC’s Galen Center home court will be on February 17th. Look for an intense game then. Until then The Trojans have gained some needed confidence while UCLA has hit a wall. UCLA Coach Ben Howland will have to regroup the team as they head to Oregon on Thursday followed by Oregon State on Saturday. They need to step it up a notch as Pac 10 play has just started. UCLA ran out of timeouts late in the game which hurt their chances.
More info, schedule and tickets, please visit www.uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/ucla-m-baskbl-body.html