Wilson, UCLA Beat Cougars on the Rebound

UCLA basketball Coach Jim Harrick has described the road as mean, ugly and nasty.

It got meaner, uglier and nastier Thursday night until Trevor Wilson rebounded his own missed shot and scored on a layup with 2 seconds left to give the Bruins a 64-63 victory over Washington State.

Wilson’s shot capped a furious rally by the Bruins, who overcame a 10-point deficit in the last 5:15 before a crowd of 4,040 at Friel Court.

“Can I borrow your hair dryer?” Harrick cracked afterward, only a short time after Pooh Richardson almost knocked him over with a bear hug.

The game-winning play was an act of desperation, Wilson said.

“I did everything I could to get the rebound because I knew Coach was going to give me an earful for taking that (first) shot,” he said.

Actually, it wasn’t bad.

After posting up and taking a pass from Pooh Richardson, Wilson went up for about an 8-foot jumper along the baseline.

The shot bounced out, and Wilson took the rebound away from Washington State’s Brian Quinnett and banked in a shot off the glass.

What could the Cougars have done differently?

“Get the rebound,” Coach Kelvin Sampson said tersely.

Sampson had reason to be upset.

Washington State, which lost its previous 3 games by 42, 18 and 27 points, controlled this one for 35 minutes.

“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and tonight UCLA was lucky,” Sampson said. “The best team didn’t win that game. We deserved to win that doggone game, and I think it’s a crying shame we didn’t.

“This is probably one of the toughest losses I think I’ve ever had. I’ve never seen a team that deserved to win more than that.”

UCLA, though, jumped the Cougars down the stretch to improve its record to 11-5, including a 6-2 mark in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Washington State, loser of 6 straight games, is 6-11 and 1-7.

The Cougars are going so bad that Sampson said earlier this week of Sunday’s game against USC, winless in the Pac-10: “It looks like that game is going to be a battle for the cellar.”

A 3-point play by Richardson started the UCLA rally, cutting the Bruins’ deficit to 50-43 with 5:15 left.

UCLA continued to whittle away at the Cougar lead, getting a 3-point shot from the corner by Kevin Walker with 3:02 left to make it 57-55.

Finally, after Washington State’s Anthony Kidd missed the first of a one-and-one free-throw situation with 1:40 left, UCLA had a chance to tie or go ahead for the first time since the opening minutes.

Richardson, though, missed a 3-point attempt and Darryl Woods rebounded for the Cougars. However, at the other end, Quinnett missed a 3-pointer for WSU, and Richardson chased down the rebound in the corner.

On the ensuing fast break, Wilson was fouled by Quinnett with 43 seconds left and UCLA trailing, 61-59.

After Wilson made the first free throw and Washington State called time out, Harrick moved the 6-foot 10-inch Walker from midcourt, where he normally lines up, to a position on the right side of the lane.

“I thought he could get a tip-in,” Harrick said.

Walker didn’t get a tip-in, but he grabbed the rebound of Wilson’s missed free throw, kept the ball aloft and banked in a short jumper to give UCLA a 62-61 lead with 41 seconds left.

“He had a lot of poise on that play,” Harrick said.

Having squandered a lead that reached 13 points with less than 10 minutes left, the Cougars looked to be dead.

But Quinnett, who scored 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting, drilled a fall-away jumper in the lane with 23 seconds left.

UCLA set up the game-winning play, on which Wilson, who scored 21 points, was the first option.

Said Harrick: “When Trevor forgets about all the things that are going on in the world and just plays basketball, he becomes a force.”

Wilson scored 12 points in the last 6:49, all but taking it upon himself to save UCLA from what could have been a devastating loss.

Bruin Notes

Pooh Richardson scored 17 points for UCLA but had a season-high 7 turnovers and only 4 assists. In his last 6 games, Richardson has 29 turnovers and 30 assists. . . . Don MacLean, held scoreless and limited to only 1 shot in the first half, scored 11 points. The freshman forward has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and 15 of 16. . . . Kevin Walker scored 11 points and pulled down 8 rebounds, his highest rebound total in 11 games.

UCLA’s Darrick Martin hyper-extended his right knee in the second half and limped off the court. He returned a short time later but was held without a point for the first time this season and didn’t attempt a shot in 29 minutes. . . . UCLA Coach Jim Harrick: “We just couldn’t get anything going, couldn’t get anything generated. I think that’s a credit to them. They were well prepared and played very physically and emotionally.” . . . UCLA scored a season-low 24 points in falling behind by 11 at halftime. . . . UCLA will play Washington Saturday in Seattle.