BRUINS NOT ON POINT IN LOSS SUBBING FOR INJURED COLLISON, WESTBROOK STRUGGLES W.VA. 70, UCLA 65.Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Russell Westbrook was propped against a wall beneath the stands at West Virginia West Virginia, E central state of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland (N), Virginia (E and S), and Kentucky and, across the Ohio R., Ohio (W). Facts and Figures Area, 24,181 sq mi (62,629 sq km). Pop. Coliseum. Perspiration dotted his forward, anguish covered his face, but his eyes remained as wide as a deer in the headlights on nearby Interstate 79. His first career start began poorly, with a couple of turnovers, and ended horrifically. With point guard Darren Collison Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American basketball player. The right-hander is a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and is currently playing his sophomore season for the University of California, Los Angeles. out with a shoulder injury, the neophyte ne·o·phyte n. 1. A recent convert to a belief; a proselyte. 2. A beginner or novice: a neophyte at politics. 3. a. Roman Catholic Church A newly ordained priest. Westbrook played a career-high 32 minutes, and they did not go well. When it was done, No. 2 UCLA's late-season foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my nonconference play ended without success, and the Bruins saw a third student body celebrate at midcourt as West Virginia survived a second-half 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 rally to win 70-65 in front of a sellout crowd of 14,160 Saturday. "I didn't get my teammates involved like I should have," Westbrook said. "There were some backdoors that I got beat on. I feel like it's my fault. I should have come out and stepped up, and I didn't step up like I should." Westbrook finished 1 of 11 from the floor before fouling out with 9.9 seconds remaining. He had four points, fourassists and was charged with three turnovers. "(Collison) wasn't even using his left hand at all when he was warming up," UCLA coach Ben Howland Ben Howland (born May 28, 1957 in Lebanon, Oregon) is an American college head coach of men's basketball. He has been the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles since 2003, and recently signed a contract extension through 2013. said. "When you're out there and you're not trying to use your left hand at all, then you're obviously not ready to play. "I made a decision to keep him out and be conservative, and to err on the side of caution. It put Russell in a tough situation, on the road." UCLA scored a season-low 22 points in the first half, shot 38.7 percent from the field and committed 15 turnovers, matching its third-most this season. When Westbrook wasn't playing, leading scorer Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Detroit Pistons. He recently completed a three-year career at University of California, Los Angeles in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA as the starting shooting ran the point. All along, the impact of Collison remaining on the bench was felt. "With players out, especially a player like Darren, other people have to function and take pride in stepping up to that role and making plays for us," Afflalo said. "This is not a team that can rely on one person. We need everybody to win, and if everybody is not participating, we don't win." UCLA (21-3) likely didn't hurt its NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
Meanwhile, the win solidified West Virginia's NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association stature. The Mountaineers (19-5), who play in the Big East, now have a signature win on their resume. They lost to Howland's former team, No. 7 Pittsburgh, 60-47 Wednesday. "There's been a few times when we've had top-ranked teams come in here, and we almost got there," WVU WVU West Virginia University WVU Love You coach John Beilein John Beilein (pronounced bee-line; born February 5, 1953 in Burt, Niagara County, New York) is the men's basketball head coach at the University of Michigan. He is the 16th head coach of the Wolverines. Beilein has won 551 career games. said. "That's the big thing here." Afflalo matched a career-high with 27 points, including 22 in the second half, but it wasn't enough for UCLA to cover up a stretch which bridged the twohalves and lasted 9 minutes, 15 seconds, in which they went without a field goal. Alex Ruoff, who got loose from Westbrook on several occasions for easy baskets, led the Mountaineers with 18 points. Frank Young scored 14 points, and Da'Sean Butler came off the bench to score 13. "They did a good job. They beat us fair and square," Howland said. "Their style of play is very difficult to prepare for and defend. This is obviously a long way to come to get beat." The long flight back to LosAngeles allowed the Bruins to lament the absence of Collison, how they lost their poise while falling behind 47-28 with 14:15 to play, why the Mountaineers were able to grab 11 offensive rebounds (they had two against Pitt), and go a bit out of character to cut through UCLA's defense and attempt more two-point shots (37) than 3-pointers (24). Even when UCLA used a 15-0 run -- highlighted by 3-pointers from Josh Shipp Josh Shipp (born 23 January in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American motivational speaker and author focusing on youth and college-aged audiences. He is noted as being one of the youngest speakers ever accepted into the National Speakers Association. and Michael Roll and a conventional 3-point play from Shipp - to pull within 47-43 with 9:19 to play, the Mountaineers went back to what they did best. Guard Darris Nichols used his speed to get around UCLA's interior defense for a left-handed layup, and Ruoff made the most of West Virginia's offensive rebound with a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 52-43. "Some of the guys (experienced) a little anxiety, a little bit myself, but I'm the guy who is supposed to help the guys relax a little bit," Afflalo said. "I'm one of the more experienced guys about there. "We did a good job responding and bouncing back a little bit, but again, every time we get behind in our three losses, we do a good job of responding. But we're not getting over the hump. So, all in all, the responses mean nothing." brian.dohn@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) UCLA point guard Russell Westbrook, left, who played for the injured Darren Collison, finished 1 for 11 in Saturday's loss. (2) UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (born 9 September 1986 in Yaounde, Cameroon) is a 6' 8" Cameroonian basketball player who plays for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA. shoots over West Virginia's Frank Young and Darris Nichols. The Bruins hot 38.7 percent from the field and committed 15 turnovers. Jeff Gentner/Associated Press |
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