Pullman, WA (Sports Network) - Losers of nine straight, with their last win
coming back in late January, Washington State truly had nothing to lose.
And with that mentality came a win.
Brock Motum scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, as the Cougars jumped
out to a jaw-dropping lead and held off every UCLA rally to down the 23rd-
ranked Bruins, 73-61.
Washington State (12-18, 3-13 Pac-12) was just 2-14 in its last 16 games prior
to Wednesday. UCLA (22-8, 12-5), fresh off a season sweep of Arizona, came in
on a four-game winning streak.
And then the ball was tipped.
Royce Woolridge sparked an early 25-4 lead and ended with 19 points, while
D.J. Shelton added 13 points and six rebounds. Dexter Kernich-Drew posted a
double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Jordan Adams scored 18 points and Shabazz Muhammad added 14 in the loss.
Muhammad made just 4-of-19 shots, part of UCLA's 38.6 percent shooting night.
UCLA had entered the night tied with Oregon for the top spot in the league
standings.
UCLA looked out of sorts over the game's first 11-plus minutes, scoring just
four points and looking up at a 21-point deficit. The Bruins made just two of
their first 12 shots, committed sloppy turnovers and didn't play much defense
to boot.
Woolridge's jumper gave the Cougars a 19-2 lead nearly halfway home in the
first half, and he made another short jumper followed by Motum's bucket for a
25-4 advantage.
UCLA scored the next eight and inch by inch, bucket by bucket, started to
creep closer. Five in a row from Adams at the end of the half brought the
Bruins within 35-24 at the half. UCLA scored 20 points in the last 8:21 after
just four points before that point.
Muhammad's three-pointer cut the margin to 37-31 with plenty of time left in
the second half, but the Cougars didn't relent, pushing the margin back to a
dozen at 50-38 on Kernich-Drew's three-point play with 10 minutes to play.
UCLA got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Game Notes
Washington State lost to UCLA, 76-62, back on February 9 ... The Cougars made
49 percent of their shots and dominated the glass, holding a staggering 43-20
advantage, including 18 offensive rebounds ... Will Dilorio recorded eight
points and seven rebounds in the win.
The Sports Network