Bruins Waste Chance : Pac-10: Officials’ call and technical foul give them an opportunity, but Washington State wins sixth in a row, 67-56.

UCLA came to the frozen hills of eastern Washington on Saturday with hopes of wiping away a disappointing week.

No chance.

Not without a steady offense, better ball handling and a strong inside game.

Not against the Washington State Cougars, whose unyielding defense frustrated the Bruins in a 67-56 loss before 8,192 at Friel Court.

UCLA (14-7, 3-5) leaves Washington today with two consecutive defeats, having lost to Washington by 14 on Thursday night. So, what’s wrong now?

“I can’t put my finger on it,” said Kevin Dempsey, a freshman swingman. “We’re just not playing well.”

If there was a time for UCLA to take charge, Saturday was it. The Bruins had an opportunity to find themselves at the end of the first half, when Cougar Coach Kelvin Sampson received a technical for pushing an official.

It was the kind of play that a season can turn on.

Sampson’s outburst, and the play that preceded it, gave UCLA a chance for a big turnaround. But the Bruins couldn’t pull it off.

The half ended with Sampson and Mark Reischling, the official who made the call, with their arms locked.

The officials nullified a foul on UCLA on a three-point shot by the Cougars and called Washington State for a 45-second violation. Somehow, they missed the fact that Mark Hendrickson’s shot with 8.9 seconds left had hit the back of the rim.

So, instead of a 32-20 halftime lead for the Cougars, UCLA was awarded the ball. Tyus Edney took the inbound pass, raced down court and made a running bank shot at the buzzer to narrow the margin to 29-22.

As the teams left the court, Sampson drew the technical, which gave the Bruins a chance for three more points at the start of the second half.

Edney made the free throw, but when the Bruins threw away the inbound pass, the Cougars remained in control.

“In my heart, I thought they botched the call,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said about asking for the violation to be called. “In clock situations, they should look at the replay.”

Sampson told his team during halftime to forget the incident.

“We had lost our composure,” he said.

It was not long before they regained it, and scored their sixth consecutive victory.

UCLA climbed back into the game to tie the score, 45-45, with 7:10 remaining. But Bennie Seltzer made a three-pointer that sparked a 10-3 Cougar run and ended the Bruins’ chances.

Sampson’s squad is known for its three-point shooting by Seltzer, Eddie Hill and Tony Harris. But UCLA had one of its better defensive games, holding the Cougars to 26.3% from three-point range.

Still, the three-guard attack was difficult to defend. Seltzer and Harris had 16 points and Hill 10. Hendrickson led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds.

“We’re not a great team, but we’re a team that plays with great effort,” Sampson said.

Dempsey, the Bruins’ three-point specialist, said it was one of the toughest perimeter defenses he has faced.

For Ed O’Bannon, who had a dismal week, the Cougars’ defense was not as big a factor as his own struggles.

“I was getting the ball where I wanted,” he said.

But his shots were not falling. O’Bannon, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, had six points and no rebounds Thursday. He scored eight points and had nine rebounds against Washington State (12-6, 6-3). He also was called for a technical foul.

“It was the worst week I’ve had,” he said.

UCLA Notes

Shon Tarver led UCLA with 13 points, and center Richard Petruska had 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. . . . Coach Jim Harrick said that he is not overly concerned about Ed O’Bannon’s slump. “I’ve never had a first-year player who didn’t go through this,” he said. “These are 18- to 22-year-old kids running up and down the court with my paycheck in their mouths.” . . . Kevin Dempsey, on the fact he no longer is a Pac-10 unknown: “Every time I cut to the three-point line, they yelled, ‘Shooter, shooter!’ It’s kind of irritating that they know me now.” . . . UCLA committed 20 turnovers.