Bruins break a bad pattern

Russell Westbrook helped make O.J. Mayo’s night what figures to go down as the worst of a brief college career.

Darren Collison, coming off a poor game of his own, knocked down shots even when they didn’t seem to want to go for him.

And Kevin Love started a fastbreak not with an outlet pass but a floor burn.

UCLA’s 56-46 victory over USC on Sunday night at the Galen Center wasn’t a thing of beauty, unless you appreciate a tough “W” in the dog days of February.

Instead of a sweep at the hands of USC and a two-game losing streak after a bad loss to Washington last week, the Bruins have another win.

They shot 33.9%, making only 21 of 62 shots -- and won.

“I said this was a grind, but we got it done,” Love said.

There was no dramatic play at the end, but Collison grabbed Love and hugged him after the buzzer.

“That doesn’t happen after every game,” Love said. “Darren and I talked a lot this week. He was very, very vocal. He really wanted to win.”

Collison went one for eight in the loss to Washington, his only basket a three-pointer, and had eight turnovers, a technical foul and a subpar defensive game.

He called his own performance “bad” and “horrible.”

“I was real angry coming into the ‘SC game,” Collison said. “We hate losing.”

After the frustrations of last week -- Love has used that word before -- Collison said there was some patching up to do.

“A little,” he said. “But my teammates knew what we needed to do.”

Look very closely at the pattern that’s emerging on the occasions when UCLA loses, and it tends to be a game when the score is low, Collison and Westbrook aren’t making their shots, Love is less involved, and the Bruins’ defense springs leaks.

It could have been that kind of night against USC, but it wasn’t.

Westbrook made only two of 11 shots, but how many of Mayo’s moves did he thwart?

“I’ve never seen that talented a player taken out of the game like that,” Love said after Mayo was limited to four points.

Collison scored 14 points on five-for-11 shooting, even though it looked like a struggle.

Love made five of 14, and finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

On the other end, USC’s Taj Gibson ate up the Bruins inside early, and Keith Wilkinson did a couple of times two.

But UCLA did its thing, and when Collison scored and was fouled on the fastbreak for what would become a 12-point lead with 11 1/2 minutes left, he and Westbrook met in an airborne chest bump.

“We were excited,” Collison said. “We’re ballplayers. That’s what we live for. But you’ve still got to stay focused on winning.

“We learned from our mistakes. . . . I’m proud of our team. I knew we’d play hard.”

UCLA Coach Ben Howland saw Collison’s intensity all week. He wasn’t worried about whether his legs were tired or his shot was a little off.

“Darren wanted to come out and lead us to victory,” Howland said. “That’s what point guards do.”

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com