Bruins not even tested in easy win

It was Idaho State.

So an overthrown alley-oop pass, the k-thunk of Kevin Love hitting the floor when his legs wouldn’t move as fast as his mind -- these were indications it was a clear-out-the-final-exams-cobwebs kind of day for the eighth-ranked Bruins.

But UCLA couldn’t be challenged in an 89-49 win Saturday over Idaho State. The game had been billed as a sellout, though attendance was listed as 9,733, not a surprise since the Bengals (2-7) weren’t competitively sized or talented. They trailed by 21 points in the first nine minutes and never got closer than 13 in the second half.

The line of the game belonged to UCLA junior guard Darren Collison, who equaled his career scoring high with 20 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and one turnover in 31 minutes.

The shot of the game belonged to walk-on senior Matt Lee, who dribbled behind his back and hit a runner from just inside the midcourt line at the final buzzer to finish the game with verve.

It was Ben Howland’s 100th win as UCLA coach. It took him 142 games to reach that number and he is tied with John Wooden and Steve Lavin as second-fastest to reach 100. Even faster was Jim Harrick, who took 136 games.

The number 100 was special to Howland.

“It means we’ve had some really good players the last four-plus years,” he said. “When I first took this job I said I never thought I would be the head coach at UCLA. It’s just a dream and not many people get to say they’re living their dream.”

More meaningful to Howland was that the Bruins (9-1) never trailed. In games against Michigan State, Texas and Davidson, UCLA was behind by at least 13 points in the first half. It was safe to say, Idaho State was no Michigan State or Texas or Davidson.

“I’m glad we got off to a good start and maintained it,” Howland said, while also suggesting that some defensive sluggishness would have been more severely punished by other teams.

“Tonight we made a lot of defensive mistakes early in the game,” he said. “We didn’t get exposed by them because we weren’t playing Texas.”

Collison, who missed most of preseason practice and the first six games because of a sprained left knee, said he had a purpose in his aggressive approach to this game.

“I really wanted to send a message,” he said, “to people who talk about how rusty I am. It’s just a matter of time. I’ll get there.”

Also working himself into shape after an injury is swingman Michael Roll, who played a season-high 19 minutes and recorded a Howland-pleasing four assists.

Roll, who missed the first seven games because of a foot injury, was most pleased with finally making his first three-pointer of the season (and his second and third). “Finally,” he said. “Glad to get that out of the way.”

The highlight plays in the first half for UCLA were a banked-in free throw by Lorenzo Mata-Real and a dunk by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute off an alley-oop pass from Roll. The Bruins led, 38-21, at halftime.

The best part of the game for Idaho State was the first minutes of the second half when the Bengals scored the first four points on a layup by Amorrow Morgan and a hook shot slung in the face of Love by Lucas Steijn, a 6-foot-11 junior from the Netherlands.

“We did everything this group of kids could do at that point,” Idaho State Coach Joe O’Brien said. “Lucas Steijn really stood out in this game. For 24 minutes we played to our capabilities, but then UCLA turned up the intensity and took it up a notch.”

Even with his defensive lapses, Love finished just one rebound shy of his sixth double-double. He had 17 points, nine rebounds and an appreciation for being done with his first set of UCLA finals.

“Coach didn’t let up on us at all,” Love said. “Now we have less than three weeks until we have Stanford on the road and we need to continue to get better.”

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diane.pucin@latimes.com