Big win moves Bruins to No. 4
UCLA moved from fifth to fourth in both the Associated Press media poll and the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll Monday, and Bruins freshman center Kevin Love was chosen Pacific 10 Conference player of the week for the second time.
On the basis of their 81-74 win over previously unbeaten and fourth-ranked Washington State, the Bruins (16-1, 4-0) also took over sole possession of first place in the Pac-10. In the polls, UCLA is behind three undefeated teams -- North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas.
After its loss to UCLA, Washington State dropped to eighth in both polls. The only other Pac-10 team in either ranking is Arizona State, which is No. 22 in the AP poll and No. 25 in the coaches’ poll. The Sun Devils were unranked last week. Stanford and Arizona dropped out of the coaches’ poll, and Stanford dropped out of the AP poll.
Love had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in UCLA’s 69-55 win over Washington and a career-high 27 points and 14 rebounds -- his eighth double-double of the season -- against Washington State. In the two games, Love shot 12 for 18 (66.7%), including two for three from three-point range.
After sounding frustrated about getting only six shots against Washington, Love seemed satisfied after taking twice that many against Washington State.
“We just started running other plays for me to shoot the ball,” said Love, who made two three-point shots in a game for the first time.
“If I have an open three I’m going to shoot it. Those opportunities presented themselves, and I was able to knock down open shots.”
UCLA Coach Ben Howland complimented Love for recognizing good shots. “That’s why he’s shooting so well,” the coach said.
Love is fifth in the conference in field-goal percentage at 60.3%, having taken 151 shots and making 91. In conference games, Love is third in field-goal percentage behind Arizona State’s Jeff Pendergraph and USC’s Taj Gibson.
Pendergraph has made 73.9% of his shots during conference games, Gibson 68.8% and Love 68.6%.
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