West Virginia knocks off second-ranked UCLA
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| Team Stat Comparison |
|
UCLA |
WEST VIRGINIA |
| Points |
65 |
70 |
| FG Made-Attempted |
24-62 (.387) |
25-61 (.410) |
| 3P Made-Attempted |
6-23 (.261) |
8-24 (.333) |
| FT Made-Attempted |
11-14 (.786) |
12-15 (.800) |
| Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) |
16 (0/0) |
11 (0/0) |
| Largest Lead |
4 |
20 |
| 2006-07 Season |
| DATE | GAME | LINKS |
| · Feb 10, 2007 | @WVU 70, UCLA 65 | Recap | Box Score |
| Next 5 Games |
| UCLA (ET) |
WEST VIRGINIA (ET) |
| 02/15 @ASU 8:30pm | | 02/17 @ARIZ 1:00pm | | 02/22 CAL 10:30pm | | 02/24 STAN 6:00pm | | 03/01 @WSU 10:30pm |
|
| 02/12 @GTWN 8:00pm | | 02/17 HALL 4:00pm | | 02/20 @PROV 7:30pm | | 02/27 @PITT 7:00pm | | 03/03 CIN 4:00pm |
|
| · Complete Schedule: UCLA | West Virginia
|
Associated Press
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The new guys at West Virginia can now
brag about doing the same thing last year's NCAA tournament team
did -- beating UCLA.
Alex Ruoff scored 18 points and the Mountaineers made up for a
lack of experience by taking a big lead and holding on for a 70-65
win over No. 2 UCLA on Saturday.
"We played with a chip on our shoulder," Ruoff said.
"Everybody hit big shots. That shows what kind of guys we have.
It's a dream come true to play here, at this school, and beat
UCLA."
Only four current West Virginia players saw action against UCLA
last year, with Frank Young the only returning starter. The result
was the same.
For the second straight season, UCLA (21-3, 10-2 Pac-10)
couldn't overcome a double-digit deficit against the Mountaineers
(19-5, 7-4 Big East).
All three UCLA losses have come on the road. This was the first
to a non-conference opponent.
"It's always a different story on someone else's court," said
Arron Afflalo, who led UCLA with 27 points and nine rebounds.
UCLA came to Morgantown for the first time and found out that
West Virginia -- with its rifle-toting mascot and antagonistic
student section -- is a tough place to play. The Mountaineers have
lost just twice to non-conference opponents at home under
fifth-year coach John Beilein.
"We knew they would come in and be a tough team," Young said.
"We wanted to match that intensity and let them know that they
would be in a fight for 40 minutes by boxing out and keeping them
off the boards. They got some putbacks in the second half, but for
a full game we did a good job of matching their toughness."
Without Darren Collison, UCLA's third-leading scorer who hurt
his left shoulder in a 5-point win over USC on Wednesday night, the
Bruins didn't score a basket over a 9:16 stretch spanning both
halves and even got burned by West Virginia's bench.
"They were down Collison, and he is one of the best guards in
the country. I am sure that hurt," Ruoff said. "They had to come
across the country. But it's UCLA. It's a win over one of the best
teams in the country."
Seldom-used guard Ted Talkington, playing because of injuries to
fellow backups Devan Bawinkel and Joe Mazzulla, hit a 3-pointer and
another jumper 1:32 apart for West Virginia's biggest lead, 47-28,
with 14:17 left in the game.
"To allow them to go up 19 points dug a big hole for us," said
UCLA coach Ben Howland. "We took a couple questionable shots and
that fed their fire."
Things fell apart quickly for the Mountaineers, who went
scoreless for more than five minutes while UCLA hunted down
offensive rebounds and forced fouls in its first comeback.
Michael Roll's 3-pointer capped a 15-0 run that pulled the
Bruins within 47-43 with 9:19 left.
Ruoff hit a 3-pointer and a three-point play to put West
Virginia ahead by 10 before Afflalo, 1-of-9 from the floor a year
ago against the Mountaineers, scored eight straight points for UCLA
and Shipp followed with four straight to bring the Bruins within
63-59 with 1:45 left.
That's as close as the Bruins got. West Virginia sank 7-of-8
free throws in the final minute. Hundreds of gold-and-blue clad
fans stormed the court and the loudspeakers blared John Denver's
"Country Roads" after the final buzzer.
"I was really pleased with the way we fought back," Howland
said. "Obviously it's a long way to come to get beat."
Young finished with 14 points and Butler had 13 for West
Virginia.
West Virginia was held to a season-low 47 points in a
double-digit loss Wednesday to Pittsburgh (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today; No. 7 AP) -- Howland's former team. It marked the first time that the Mountaineers had hosted two
top 10 opponents in the same week.
Freshman Da'Sean Butler sparked a 10-2 run with a 3-pointer and
a lay-in midway through the first half, and West Virginia scored
the final eight points of the half, capped by Butler's 3-point
play, for a 32-22 lead. It was the fewest points UCLA had scored in
the first half this season.
West Virginia leads the series 3-1. All three previous meetings
were in Los Angeles. Last season West Virginia nearly blew a
20-point lead before winning 60-56 on Mike Gansey's 24-point
performance.
(2) UCLA 65, 
West Virginia 70