Bruins trail Cougars 34-32 at the half
By Jordan Lee
March 1, 2015 7:22 p.m.
That much was clear after a sloppy first half against Washington State.
The two teams combined for 15 turnovers as the Cougars entered halftime with a 34-32 lead.
Senior guard Norman Powell led all scorers with 12 points while freshman forward Kevon Looney and sophomore guard Bryce Alford added seven points apiece.
Freshman center Thomas Welsh started in place of junior forward/center Tony Parker after the latter was late to a shoot around Sunday morning.
The Cougars outrebounded the Bruins 6-3 over the first 5:20 of play and claimed a 12-11 lead with Parker on the bench.
Regardless of who was in the lineup, UCLA’s offense struggled through the first 10 minutes of the period, at one point going scoreless for 3:51.
Even when the points were free, the Bruins had issues, as the team shot 4-8 from the free-throw line.
After the Cougars’ lead stretched to 17-11, the Bruins attacked inside with Parker and Powell, as the duo combined to score UCLA’s next three baskets. UCLA outscored Washington State 20-10 down low, thanks in large part to the 16 combined points from the Bruins’ two most experienced players.
But UCLA’s offense stalled again while the Cougars caught fire from outside, as a 3-pointer from forward Brett Boese pushed their lead to a high of seven.
Washington State shot 50 percent from beyond the arc in the half, but a 3-pointer from Alford cut UCLA’s deficit to four while a layup from Powell made it a 30-28 game with 4:42 left in the half.
The two teams combined to miss 11 of their last 14 shots, with each squad adding just four points over the half’s final five minutes.
Compiled by Jordan Lee, Bruin Sports senior staff.
