ADVENTUROUS UCLA ALMOST TRIPS ON ROAD : UCLA 69, WASH. ST. 66.Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer The dateline may as well have read CORVALLIS, Ore. Somewhere on their journey to the Palouse - and it was a journey - the UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I-A as part of the Pacific Ten Conference. Athletic alumni Jackie Robinson, Rafer Johnson, Yang Chuan-kwang (C.K. misplaced mis·place tr.v. mis·placed, mis·plac·ing, mis·plac·es 1. a. To put into a wrong place: misplace punctuation in a sentence. b. their progress and reverted to the bad form responsible for their stunning loss at Oregon State three weeks ago. The Bruins managed to avoid the same ignominy IGNOMINY. Public disgrace, infamy, reproach, dishonor. Ignominy is the opposite of esteem. Wolff, Sec. 145. See Infamy. Thursday night because of smothering smothering death by asphyxiation. Occurs where poultry are carelessly herded into a corner where they cannot escape and where they are piled four or five birds deep; they will die of asphyxia very quickly. See also crowding. defense down the stretch and because their opponent, Washington State, was the same team that lost to Alaska-Fairbanks. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , the Cougars were not good enough - not even average enough - to take what the Bruins offered. The result was a 69-66 victory in front of 5,502 at Friel Court that assured UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX of a crucial weekend split. Combined with Arizona's victory over Stanford, the win moved the Bruins within one game of the Cardinal. ``We didn't have the sense of urgency you have to have,'' said UCLA coach Steve Lavin Steve Lavin (born September 4,1964), a San Francisco, California native is a former college basketball coach and current ABC and ESPN TV analyst. As UCLA head basketball coach from 1996-2003, Lavin compiled a record of 145-78. , who was not surprised by his team's lethargy. ``I told the guys that you practice like you play, and we did not have a good practice Tuesday. I could sense this coming. (Tuesday) was one of the worst practices of the year. We're very, very fortunate to get out of here with a win.'' UCLA's most effective players were center Dan Gadzuric Dan Gadzuric (Gadžurić in Serbian, pronounced /ɠɑːdʒʊɹitʃ/ (born February 2, 1978 in The Hague) is a Dutch professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. , who returned from a sprained ankle A sprained ankle, also known as a ankle sprain, ankle injury or ankle ligament injury, is a common medical condition where one or more of the ligaments of the ankle is torn or partially torn. to score 16 points in 21 minutes, and forward JaRon Rush, who made 1 of 9 shots but preserved the victory by deflecting two passes in the final 22 seconds. The first led directly to Ray Young's dunk and a 68-63 lead. The second prevented Cougars sharpshooter Jan-Michael Thomas from launching a game-tying shot in the final seconds. ``You can always play defense,'' said Rush, clearly frustrated by his slumping shooting. UCLA (15-4, 6-2) began its roadtrip by violating Bruin Attitude rule No. 3: Be on time. Because of a late start from campus and unexpected traffic they arrived at LAX 10 minutes before their scheduled 5:55 departure and missed the flight. They sat for two hours, then flew to Seattle and Spokane, then made the 90-minute bus ride to their hotel in Moscow, Idaho. They arrived just before 3 a.m., and many players did not get to sleep until well past 5. It showed. ``We were big-time sluggish,'' said guard Baron Davis, who made 2 of 10 shots. ``I could see it in everybody's face, including myself. You're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. motivation, looking for motivation, looking for things, but your body just doesn't come around.'' Their spirits improved before tipoff, when Lavin entered Friel Court and was greeted by 20 Washington State students intent on mimicking his every move. They sat opposite UCLA's bench, wore dress shirts and ties, and a few even greased their hair. The routine started last year, so Lavin was prepared. He bowed to the students, then led them through a ``Simon Says'' routine that included various jumps, claps and spins. It was good theatre, with smiles all around, and eventually the Bruins kidded Lavin about his Cougar cougar: see puma. cougar or puma or mountain lion or panther Species (Puma concolor) of large, graceful cat that lives in a wide variety of habitats in the Americas, from southern Alaska to Patagonia. clones. Lavin got serious for tipoff, and his mood quickly digressed. UCLA's pressure defense befuddled Washington State, which went eight minutes without a field goal, but the Bruins' 23-7 lead would have been larger if not for a series of fast-break blunders and silly fouls. The patience they used to defeat USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. and Louisville had disappeared - perhaps in Tuesday's practice, perhaps on the long trip to Pullman. The Cougars switched to a zone defense, which slowed the Bruins, and eventually found their composure, which did wonders for their attack. They opened the second half with eight consecutive points, rattling the Bruins. Thomas' 3-pointer from the Idaho border brought the Cougars within four, and his free throws tied it with 13:44 remaining. The Cougars led 56-53 when the Bruins finally found their legs. They cut off Washington State's penetration and forced difficult shots. Jerome Moiso's dunk and Young's short turnaround gave the Bruins a 62-58 lead with 1:31 left. Davis missed two free throws in the final minute, giving the Cougars life until Rush's deflections secured the victory. ``It was good, bad and ugly,'' Young said. ``It was all three - good we got a win, but bad and ugly, too.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) UCLA's Baron Davis knocks the ball away from Washington State's Eddie Miller on Thursday. Geoff Crimmins/Associated Press (2) JARON RUSH The UCLA freshman was just 1 of 9 from the field, but his two big defensive plays in the final half-minute preserved the win. |
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