Huskies Fatten Up on Bruins With Crash Diet

If Nate Robinson didn’t make his driving layup, Tre Simmons tipped in the miss. If Simmons missed the tip, Bobby Jones knocked in the basket. Or Will Conroy did. Unless it was Brandon Roy.

All long arms and springy legs, the No. 13-ranked Washington Huskies had 22 offensive rebounds Saturday against UCLA. The result was an energetic 82-70 Pacific 10 Conference victory over the exhausted Bruins (12-7, 6-5) at the Bank of America Arena.

The win kept Washington (19-3, 9-2) in a first-place tie with Arizona. UCLA is tied for third and not disappointed with a split on this trip to the Northwest after Thursday’s overtime victory at Washington State.

“We got a win on the trip,” Bruin forward Dijon Thompson said. “I think we’re still in good position.”

The Huskies sent four and sometimes five men to the offensive boards after every miss. And defensively they kept their elbows planted firmly in the bellies of UCLA players. While point guard Robinson is five inches shorter than UCLA freshman Jordan Farmar, for example, Robinson is more muscular, and quicker.

With Robinson as a constant companion, Farmar had trouble getting enough space to drive to the basket or make unchallenged passes. As the game wore on, Farmar wore down. He finished with eight turnovers and the Bruins had 23 as a team, 14 in the second half.

“There were two obvious stats of the game,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. “We allowed 22 offensive rebounds -- they killed us there. And 23 turnovers. Turnovers have plagued us all year.”

Four Huskies scored in double figures, led by Roy, who had his second double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Jones, a 6-foot-6 forward from Compton and Long Beach Poly High, had 17 points and a few consoling words for UCLA freshman Arron Afflalo, who is also from Compton.

“I talked to Arron after,” Jones said. “He was pretty down. I told him it was a good lesson.”

At Pauley Pavilion last month, Washington had run to a 21-point first-half lead. But the Huskies seem incapable of slowing down, ever. It cost them against a young UCLA team that was happy to run with them. But in front of 10,000 screaming fans who offered a jolt of energy whenever Washington’s flagged, UCLA was always running uphill.

The Bruins got down by as many as 10 points in the first half, 34-24, but closed strongly and trailed only 36-32 at halftime when Thompson (22 points, six rebounds) drove for a layup and Brian Morrison made two free throws after the Huskies missed four shots within two feet of the basket.

There were too many of those possessions, though, when the Huskies kept getting second, third and fourth chances. They ended up with 74 shots to UCLA’s 52.

In the second half, Washington was up by as many as 15 points (62-47) before the Bruins made a second strong attack. Thompson made two free throws, Michael Fey put back an Afflalo miss, Thompson scooted free for a layup, Josh Shipp (career-high 20 points) nailed an open three-point shot, and Morrison made two free throws. With 7:24 left, the Huskies appeared flustered.

They were quickly calmed down, though, when Simmons stopped the run with a three-pointer.

There was one more moment when it seemed UCLA might hang in until the end. Farmar sneaked behind the defense, took an inbounds pass and appeared to have a wide-open layup that would have pulled UCLA to 69-65. But from nowhere, Roy soared to block Farmar’s shot and start a fastbreak the other way. Roy hit a running Jones, who spotted up for an in-the-flow three-pointer. And soon, in a span of 40 seconds, the Bruins were down by 10 points, 72-62.

“I didn’t see him,” Farmar said. “I was going for the dunk. If I’d known he was coming, I would have shot faster.”

Always the Huskies were coming, and coming fast. “It was very difficult,” Thompson said. “When they got a full head of steam and four guys going to the boards? It’s impossible. When they’re at home and the crowd’s behind them, whew.”