It’s never time to relax for Howland

The outcome had long been decided Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA’s lead over the Oregon State Beavers was more than 40 and counting.

The starters were on the bench, enjoying garbage time from courtside seats.

But it wasn’t garbage time for UCLA Coach Ben Howland. He was still in his usual pose on the sideline, standing in a hunched-over position, his feet occasionally stepping onto the court, arms raised above his head as if he were a sixth Bruins defender, intensity level unabated.

That, said guard Darren Collison, is one of the traits his players appreciate about him.

“He coaches throughout the game, the whole 40 minutes,” Collison said. “We were up by a lot, but he was still standing.... He keeps striving for perfection.

“That’s why he’s a good coach.”

*

The Bruins may have defeated Oregon State by 47 points, but they aren’t the best team the Beavers have faced.

Not according to Oregon State center Kyle Jeffers.

“They are a good team,” Jeffers said. “But I like Washington State better. They know how to play the game. They are solid and disciplined. That’s not to take anything away from UCLA.”

Washington State beat Oregon State, 70-55, in their first meeting this season. UCLA defeated Washington State, 55-52, at Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 28.

*

The 35 points scored by the Beavers equaled the all-time low by an opponent in Pauley Pavilion. The previous low was established by another Oregon State team in a 1966 game won by UCLA, 79-35.

*

Although UCLA’s 47-point margin of victory was the team’s largest since 1999, it didn’t come close to the school’s all-time high. That is 65 points, a margin of victory reached three times: in a 122-57 win over Portland in 1967, a 106-41 victory over New Mexico in 1954 and an 83-18 triumph over a Los Angeles Police squad in 1946.

*

steve.springer@latimes.com