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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 12:55 p.m., Saturday, February 21, 2009

CBKB: Washington State beats No. 20 UCLA 82-81

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Taylor Rochestie scored a career-high 33 points to lead Washington State to an 82-81 upset of No. 20 UCLA today.

The senior guard had five rebounds, four assists, five 3-pointers and made all of his 10 free throws to lead the Cougars (14-13, 6-9 Pac-10) to their second win in 53 games in Los Angeles.

Freshman Klay Thompson scored 15 points, all in the first half, and added five rebounds and five assists for Washington State. Senior center Aron Baynes finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists and Caleb Forrest added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting for the Cougars.

Forward Nikola Dragovic scored a career-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Bruins (20-7, 9-5.) Darren Collison had 20 points and eight assists for UCLA, while Josh Shipp scored 14 points and Alfred Aboya had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

UCLA scrambled late, forcing loose ball situations and a few turnovers. Collison made a 3-pointer with 1:26 left to cut the lead to 75-71, but couldn't capitalize on two steals by Dragovic, missing a layup and 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.

Thompson sealed it when he blocked a buzzer-beating attempt by Shipp near halfcourt after Nikola Koprivica missed two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining.

Washington State shot 58.8 percent from the field for the game hitting 12 of its first 16 shots and eight of 15 free throws. Thompson got the Cougars started, making his first five shots, including three 3-pointers.

Trailing by seven with 3 minutes to play, UCLA looked ready to rally after Shipp scored on a layup and appeared ready to score again on a turnover. Instead, he passed on an open slam dunk and missed the layup.

The Cougars turned the miss into a transition opportunity and Rochestie drained a 3-pointer to complete a five-point turnaround.

UCLA looked ready to take control of the game after rallying from an eight-point deficit to force a 42-42 tie at halftime and then build a 51-46 lead over the first 4 minutes of the second half.

It was Washington State coach Tony Bennett's first win over UCLA in six tries and the Cougars' first win at Pauley Pavilion since beating UCLA 55-48 on Feb. 5, 2005. UCLA leads the all-time series 94-14.