UCLA
Washington St
Men's Hoops Routs Washington State
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
February 25, 1999
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Washington State was up against history and UCLA's fullcourt pressure. The Cougars never challenged either.
Baron Davis had 17 points and equaled his career high with 11 assists as the 15th-ranked Bruins demolished the Cougars 100-61 Thursday night.
"We just set the tempo," Davis said. "If we'd have done it throughout the season consistently, we might've had a lot more blowouts. Today we just did our best to focus."
The Bruins (20-7, 10-5 Pac-10) reached the 20-win mark for the 39th time in school history, including the last 11 years.
UCLA won for the 13th straight time against the Cougars (10-17, 4-12), who are 0-34 since 1966 at Pauley Pavilion and 0-43 all-time at UCLA. That's the second-longest winless streak in NCAA history, behind Clemson's 0-45 record at North Carolina.
"I think we played the shirt and not the team," Washington State coach Kevin Eastman said. "The mystique of being here got to our heads."
Washington State didn't resemble the team that lost by three points to UCLA in Pullman on Jan. 28. The Cougars never found their shooting touch, hitting 27 percent for the game, and committed a season-high 31 turnovers, many of them unforced, against UCLA's fullcourt defense.
"We came out with great energy against them in Pullman, and they had the great energy tonight. They pressed us very well, but there were also many unforced errors," Eastman said. "You have to be aggressive against an aggressive press and we weren't."
Five UCLA players scored in a game-opening 20-5 run. The Bruins began the second half with 16 straight points, pushing their lead to 66-27 with 15:01 remaining. They shot 53 percent in scoring 100 points for the third time this season and controlled the boards, 41-33.
On one possession, the Bruins shot seven free throws after Washington State guard Kab Kazadi picked up two technical fouls and was ejected. Earl Watson was fouled on a 3-point attempt and shot the first technical, making three of his five attempts. Travis Reed shot the other technical and made one of two. Watson finished with 13 points.
Kojo Mensah-Bonsu led the Cougars with 12 points and Jan-Michael Thomas and Brian Stewart added 11 each.
"Tonight is a real disappointment not because we lost, but how we did it," Mensah-Bonsu said. "We had no intensity and our attitude was poor."
Washington State twice trailed by 48 points in the second half, the last time on consecutive 3-pointers by UCLA reserve Brandon Loyd with 9:37 remaining. Loyd equaled his career high by scoring all of his 12 points on 3-pointers.
"We lost our confidence early," Thomas said. "They made it clear they wanted to win. I feel totally embarrassed."
UCLA played without 6-foot-10 1/2 center Dan Gadzuric, who was lost for the season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery earlier Thursday. Davis honored his missing teammate by wearing a sweatband around his right leg with Dan 50' in blue ink. Gadzuric listened to the game on radio since it wasn't televised.
"We wanted to go out and do this for Dan," Davis said. "I hope he's satisfied."
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
