BRUINS TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT THOMPSON'S 25 NOT ENOUGH OREGON ST. 65, UCLA 56.Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer CORVALLIS, Ore. - 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 decided to do this the hard way. All the Bruins needed was a win Thursday to qualify for the Pac-10 Tournament. They couldn't come up with that, even against hapless hap·less adj. Luckless; unfortunate. See Synonyms at unfortunate. hap  less·ly adv. Oregon State.
Yet, despite 18 turnovers and the inability to make clutch shots down the stretch, UCLA can still make the postseason tournament. The easy way would be to beat Oregon on Saturday. But If UCLA loses, there's a plethora of tiebreaker tie·break·er n. An additional contest or period of play designed to establish a winner among tied contestants. Also called tiebreak. tie scenarios, only one of which doesn't suit the Bruins - a four-way tie. The Bruins got a season-high 25 points from Dijon Thompson Dijon Lynn Thompson (born February 23, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American professional basketball player for Alba Berlin of the German Bundesliga. , including a career-high seven 3-pointers, but stumbled down the stretch without guard Cedric Bozeman Cedric R. Bozeman (born March 7 1983 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional basketball player, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Bozeman averaged 1.1 points in 23 games with five starts with the Hawks before being waived in January 2007. , who sat almost the final 10 minutes with four fouls. Oregon State flourished with sophomore guard Chris Stephens late to beat UCLA, which is plenty good at beating itself, 65-56 on Thursday at Gill Coliseum Groundbreaking for the Gill Coliseum Annex project is scheduled for March, with a completion date of early 2008. The Annex will be located between Gill Coliseum and the Tommy Prothro Football Complex. . Stephens scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and ignited an 11-3 run to end the game with a 3-pointer with 2:06 left. UCLA, losers of five in a row, is in business if it beats Oregon, which it already beat at Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, informally and commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The men's and women's volleyball teams also play here. three months ago. But the Bruins haven't won a road game since Jan. 10. Even if the Bruins lose, they'll get in the conference tournament if Washington State loses to Cal or Oregon State loses to USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. . But if UCLA loses and there's a four-way tie with USC, Washington State and Oregon State, the Bruins are done. The tiebreaker is head-to-head wins among the teams that are tied. UCLA has just two wins - against Washington State and Oregon State - the fewest of any of the four teams. ``Wow,'' said 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. , who wasn't aware of that situation until told by reporters. ``This is very disappointing. We, again, had opportunities late in the game on the road and to be down one with a chance to stop, it was huge.'' Washington State called a timeout with 2:20 left and Stephens followed with a 3-pointer from the right wing against UCLA's zone for a 57-53 lead. Bozeman wasn't around to help defend. ``Yeah, he's one of our best perimeter defenders,'' Howland said. ``He is good in the zone because he's longer and creates more space.'' The Bruins (11-15, 7-10) created a hairy situation for themselves, tied with USC for sixth in the Pac-10. Oregon State (12-15, 6-11) isn't out of it yet either. ``Basically, we've got to win (Saturday),'' Ryan Hollins Ryan Hollins (born October 10, 1984) is an American professional basketball player. At 7 foot, 225 lbs, he is a center from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was selected in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. said. ``Don't leave it up to fate.'' UCLA swept the Oregon schools in January. The Bruins beat Oregon State 77-66 on Jan. 2 but their demise since then is well-chronicled. UCLA played sloppy and committed 11 first-half turnovers. Oregon State, which led 28-24 at halftime, went on a 9-0 run with 12:10 left to build a 46-37 lead. The Bruins rallied, but never took the lead. Thompson had a hot hand early and the Bruins shot 52 percent in the first half. Thompson's seven 3-pointers tied a record at Gill Coliseum, which opened in the 1949-50 season. His 25 points were one shy of his career best. It was an ugly first half, however, marred by an appalling amount of errant er·rant adj. 1. Roving, especially in search of adventure: knights errant. 2. Straying from the proper course or standards: errant youngsters. 3. shots, including easy layups. Oregon State missed two inside shots within the first two minutes of the second half, continuing an embarrassing trend. The way the Beavers played Thursday, it was awfully hard to imagine how they beat Arizona here earlier this year. But the way they played at the end of the game - and the way UCLA played - it was easy to see how they won this one. Brian Morrison, who has missed the last six of eight games with a sprained right ankle, returned to action. Morrison entered with 10:38 left in the first half. His time was uneventful. He played four scoreless minutes in the first half. Jill Painter, (818)713-3615 jill.painter(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: (color) UCLA's T.J. Cummings tries to pass despite pressure from Oregon State's Jim Hanchett on Thursday as UCLA suffered its fifth consecutive defeat. Tiffany Brown/Associated Press Box: (1) STORY LINES (2) STANDINGS |
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