COLLISON, BRUINS AVOID UPSET ASSERT THEMSELVES IN 2ND HALF TO GO TO 12-0 UCLA 55, WASH. ST 52.

Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer

UCLA point guard Darren Collison had a serious holiday hangover, and he wasn't alone.

The cold-shooting Bruins were in grave danger of losing their first game and No. 1 ranking in their Pacific-10 Conference opener against Washington State, and Collison's troubles were the most evident.

He had no points, no assists, threeturnovers and three fouls in the first half. He didn't even start the second half, but when he did get back in, he'd been cured of whatever ailed him.

Collison scored 13 points, added four assists and sparked UCLA's 55-52 comeback win over the Cougars Thursday in front of a soldout crowd of 11,102 at Pauley Pavilion.

He made a 3-pointer to give UCLA its first lead with 12:33 left.

``If this game was in Pullman, Washington, instead of here, we lose,'' Ben Howland said.

UCLA certainly shot the ball like the game was at Beasley Coliseum. The Bruins were a season-low 32.7 percent from the field, including a horrendous 27 percent in the first half. The Cougars controlled the game for the first half and led by as many as 10points, but it was a thriller the rest of the way.

Ivory Clark had an open dunk to pull Washington State within 53-52 with 53 seconds left. Collison missed a shot in the lane on the other end, and Clark got the rebound with 25 seconds to go.

Derrick Low tried a 3-pointer from the right wing with 8 seconds remaining, but it was an air ball, and Arron Afflalo got the rebound. Afflalo made both free throws and a last-second 3-point try by Nikola Koprivica was errant.

``You're not always going to have perfect games,'' Collison said. ``The best thing about when you're not playing well is that you have to learn from your mistakes.''

Luc Mbah a Moute made several big defensive plays down the stretch to keep UCLA (12-0, 1-0 Pac-10) undefeated. Mbah a Moute blocked Low's shot and Afflalo made a fastbreak 3-pointer from the left wing to pull UCLA within two at 39-37.

Even though Washington State (11-2, 0-1) gave UCLA more than it could handle for a while, the Cougars are now 0-25 against No. 1 teams. Low scored a game-high 14 points but couldn't come up with the big shot down the stretch.

``We fought hard, we had our chances,'' first-year Cougars coach Tony Bennett said. ``UCLA is a strong defensive team and our (10) turnovers killed us. We did not back down.''

Neither did Collison, even after a sluggish first half.He hit shots from everywhere and made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to put UCLA ahead 40-39, the Bruins' first lead.

UCLA had finally played the part of the nation's top-ranked team in slaughtering Michigan on Saturday, but that game seemed like it was five months ago not fivedays.

``Our offense was really inept tonight,'' Howland said. ``To be able to win a game and shoot 32 percent, that's a testament to our toughness.''

Afflalo and Collison each had a team-high 13 points. Afflalo was just 4-of-12 from the field and Josh Shipp was 4-of-13 with 11 points.

The Bruins trailed the Cougars 19-9 in at one point in the first half but trailed just 28-24 at halftime. It was UCLA's worst offensive first-half performance of the season. Howland started freshman Russell Westbrook in place of Collison in the second half, but Collison was back in the game before the second half was three minutes old.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) UCLA's Arron Afflalo, left, tries to put up a shot past Washington State's Ivory Clark.

(2) UCLA's Josh Shipp gets underneath Washington State's Ivory Clark on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer