Men’s basketball claws back to 72-67 win over Cougars

The biggest news for UCLA men’s basketball Sunday came before its game against Washington State. And from a different city. And about a different game.

About 30 minutes before UCLA’s tipoff, Oregon defeated Stanford 73-70 to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament. In the process, the Ducks gave the Bruins’ postseason hopes a boost.

With Stanford’s loss, UCLA took complete control of its own destiny in the Pac-12, gaining the opportunity to clinch the No. 4 seed and a much-needed first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament if it could win its final two games of the regular season.

But before earning that bye, the Bruins had to earn the wins. Part one of that challenge came a bit harder than expected. Buoyed by a career-high 28 points from senior guard Norman Powell, UCLA (18-12, 10-7 Pac-12) battled back from a halftime deficit to earn a 72-67 win over Washington State (12-16, 6-10).

Despite losing eight of its past 11 games, Washington State quickly established control of the game, grabbing a 13-11 lead after five minutes and not relinquishing it for the remainder of the half.

“I think we came out a little too comfortable,” said freshman forward Kevon Looney. “I think because it was a home game, (we thought) we’d automatically win, but we came out really relaxed and they punched us right in the mouth.”

The Bruins did some good things early on, scoring 20 points in the paint in the first half as well as forcing 10 turnovers. However, all their positives were overshadowed by their areas of struggle, being outrebounded 19-13 in the first half and allowing the Cougars to shoot five of 10 from 3-point range.

The problem, like it has been in first halves all season long, was energy. Coach Steve Alford said he noticed his team not cutting as hard and not playing with as much energy during the game’s first 30 minutes, when UCLA trailed for nearly that whole time.

“Coach really got into us at halftime,” Powell said. “We really knew how big this game was, and we knew that team was a good team … and there’s no pressure on them … and they’re gonna come in and be aggressive, and I think that the team took it lightly.”

After halftime, it took UCLA another eight minutes to finally kick into gear. Bolstered by Powell, who seemed to be the only Bruin capable of creating his own shot off the dribble, UCLA kept the game close and, bit by bit, nibbled away at Washington State’s lead.

Finally, after trailing for nearly 24 straight minutes, UCLA broke through.

With 11:41 left to play, Parker thundered down the lane for a powerful fast-break dunk, punctuated with a booming yell, to put the Bruins on top 46-45, their first lead since the 15:26 mark in the first half.

With some newfound energy, the Bruins reversed their first-half problems, outrebounding the Cougars 21-13 in the second half and holding them to just 3-12 shooting from beyond the arc.

While UCLA never pulled away, it maintained a death grip on the lead for the remainder of the game, knowing the importance of each win at this late stage of the season.

“Really proud of our guys in the second half to do what they needed to do,” Alford said. “Obviously a gut-check game for them and all the pressure on us. Not a whole lot of pressure on Washington State.”

UCLA led for just 14 minutes Sunday but came away from the closer-than-expected game with some lessons to use Wednesday when it faces USC with the pressure ratcheted up even higher.

“We came out a little sluggish. … We just had to bounce back and play hard,” Parker said. “It’s March. Every team is gonna come out strong, fighting. Everybody’s fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament, so we gotta come out and prove ourselves.”