University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Washington St
Men's Hoops Downs Pac-10 Rival Washington State
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
January 29, 1999
PULLMAN, Wash. - UCLA coach Steve Lavin has had some nerve-wracking games at Washington State.
The No. 11 Bruins rallied to beat the Cougars 69-66 on Thursday night, continuing a pattern of close victories for UCLA in Pullman.
"We got out very fortunate with a win," Lavin said. "They clearly beat us to the punch in every aspect of the game."
Freshman Dan Gadzuric scored 16 points and Jerome Moiso added 14 for the Bruins (15-4, 6-2 Pac-10).
Washington State's Blake Pengelly hit a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to cut UCLA's lead to two. After Baron Davis' free throw put UCLA up three, the Bruins stole the inbounds pass and Ray Young dunked to make it 68-63.
Jan-Michael Thomas, who led the Cougars with 16 points, hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to make it 68-66. But Davis made another free throw with seven seconds left, and the Bruins stole the ball before Washington State (8-11, 2-6) could get off a possible game-tying shot.
"They find a way to win a close game every way possible," Pengelly said.
The series of poor inbounds passes by Washington State's Chris Crosby in the closing seconds helped the Bruins escape with the victory.
"Our players really felt they should have won the game," Cougars coach Kevin Eastman said.
Gadzuric led UCLA in scoring despite playing only 21 minutes.
"It felt very good just to play physical," Gadzuric said. "It helps a lot because it just opens up a look to the basket."
Eddie Miller scored 15 points and Kojo Mensah-Bonsu had 14 points and nine rebounds for Washington State, which made 21 of 26 free throws.
Washington State trailed 35-24 at halftime, but then outscored UCLA 30-18 to take a 54-53 lead. The Bruins then went on an 11-4 run and took a 64-58 lead on two free throws by Earl Watson with 1:10 left.
The Cougars missed 13 of their first 14 shots and made only 26 percent from the field in the first half. But they shot 63 percent in the second half, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
The Bruins shot only 34 percent in the second half, and missed all six of their 3-point attempts after the break.
