UCLA routs WSU
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Seldom-used forward Brendan Lane finished a breakaway dunk in the waning moments on Thursday night, bringing the UCLA crowd to its feet. It was just one small play in an already decided game, but it provided a moment of pleasure amid a few days of negativity.
Lazeric Jones scored 18 points, Tyler Lamb added 16 and UCLA routed Washington State 78-46.
The triumph came a day after the release of Sports Illustrated report that painted a picture of disarray, detailing a lack of discipline and declining moral at the once-storied program.
"I think our team probably rallied a little bit more because we are under a lot of media attention because of the article," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "So I was pleased the way the guys did that."
David Wear scored all 13 of his points after halftime and Jerime Anderson added nine assists for the Bruins (17-13, 10-7 Pac-12), who shot 58.2 percent and made 11 of 16 3-pointers.
The Sports Illustrated expose cited dozens of anonymous sources describing the last four years as being marred by infighting, alcohol and drug use by players, and a lack of discipline by Howland, with an influx of immature recruits as the culprits.
Although team members were made aware of the article before it was published, the Bruins say it didn't affect their preparation.
"We knew about a week prior that it was coming out and there was going to be a big deal about it," Wear said. "But honestly, among the players we all just stood together as a team, as a family. There was no real reaction to it, nobody really talked about it. We read about it but we just moved on. We said 'whatever happened, happened.'"
Brock Motum scored 18 as the only player in double-figures for Washington State (14-15, 6-11).
"I thought we were ready to take a step forward, but tonight we just went backward," Motum said. "I thought we were getting better but we came out with no intensity. We played bad 'D.'"
The Cougars play at Southern California on Saturday.
WASHINGTON ST. (14-15)
Motum 6-15 6-9 18, Lodwick 1-2 0-0 3, Capers 1-3 0-0 2, Moore 2-8 0-0 5, Lacy 2-5 1-2 5, Ladd 2-3 1-4 5, DiIorio 0-2 0-0 0, Shelton 2-5 0-2 4, Kernich-Drew 0-2 2-4 2, Enquist 0-0 0-0 0, Simon 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 17-49 10-21 46.
UCLA (17-13)
D. Wear 6-8 0-0 13, T. Wear 3-6 2-2 8, Lamb 6-10 0-0 16, Anderson 1-5 1-2 4, L. Jones 8-10 0-0 18, Stover 0-1 0-0 0, K. Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Powell 3-6 0-0 8, DeMarcus 0-0 0-0 0, Lane 2-4 0-0 5, Smith 3-5 0-2 6, Trapani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-55 3-6 78.
Halftime_UCLA 38-19. 3-Point Goals_Washington St. 2-13 (Lodwick 1-1, Moore 1-2, Ladd 0-1, Kernich-Drew 0-1, Lacy 0-2, Simon 0-2, Motum 0-4), UCLA 11-16 (Lamb 4-6, L. Jones 2-2, Powell 2-3, D. Wear 1-1, Anderson 1-2, Lane 1-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Washington St. 28 (Motum 8), UCLA 33 (T. Wear, D. Wear 5). Assists_Washington St. 8 (Kernich-Drew, Lacy, Lodwick 2), UCLA 26 (Anderson 9). Total Fouls_Washington St. 6, UCLA 19. A_5,099.