PULLMAN, Wash. (by Hayden Wysup) -- Washington State defeated UCLA 77-65, Saturday afternoon in Beasley Coliseum to improve to 23-7, and 14-5 in Pac-12 play, tying the program record for most Conference wins in a season.
Jaylen Wells led the game in scoring with a career-high 27 points, while nailing all 10 of his free throws. Wells has become an incredibly efficient scorer since being inserted into the starting lineup.
"I feel invincible at home," Wells said postgame after the Cougars 15th home win this season, matching a school record.
Myles Rice had 18 points, four rebounds, four assists, and grabbed a steal, all while playing 39 out of the 40 minutes. Isaac Jones had 11 points and five rebounds. Andrej Jakimovski had 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds.
Rueben Chinyelu made his 10th start of his career, tonight he had five points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Those three blocks put Chinyelu at the top of the WSU freshman all time blocks list, tallying 40 rejections this season.
UCLA looked to weather the storm in Beasley by jumping out to an early 16-4 lead, making seven of their first nine shots.
But as the Bruins offense slowed down from their hot start, Wazzu started eating into their lead. Rice and Wells were responsible for most of the Cougs offense in the early going, combing for 11 of the Cougs first 13 points.
WSU is no stranger to responding to opponents jumping out to an early lead. In a similar start to Thursday's game over USC, WSU kept fighting Saturday and with 2:18 left in the first half, Wells got to the rim for an and-1 to give Wazzu its first lead of the game. While the three-ball served to be WSU's saving grace on Thursday night, early on the weekend, those shots were not falling the same. Washington State shot just 1-7 from deep in the first 13 minutes. However, the Cougs found their groove, ending the half nailing three of their four attempts.
Despite trailing most of the opening period, WSU entered the break with a 40-32 lead. Wells had 14 points, Rice had 12 on 5 of 8 shooting, and Watts added six points with a pair of triples off the bench. UCLA's Dylan Andrews had 14 points and Sebastian Mack had eight.
Despite not facing much adversity in the first half and letting the Cougs run away with the lead in the opening period, the Bruins responded early in this second half, making five of their first five shots and cutting WSU's lead to only three. Not only was the Bruins' offense rolling, they started making it tough for the Cougars on offense, holding them to just 3 of 10 shooting in the early part of the second half. With 10:10 left to play, Brandon Williams got to the rim to give UCLA a 54-51 lead, as the Bruins shot 9 of 13 over the run.
Despite the Bruins' hot scoring, Washington State stayed in the game and with 7:10 left to play, Wells nailed a pull up 3-pointer to tie the game. On the next possession, Jones got to the rim for the score to give WSU a 60-58 lead.
As the game came down to the wire, the Cougars converted baskets. In the span of four minutes, Washington State went on a 14-3 run to regain the lead. With three minutes left to play, WSU led 69-63 and the Cougar offense proved to be too much for the Bruins to contain as Washington State cruised to the win.
In the last seven minutes of the game, the Cougars went on a 22-7 run.
"It speaks to how together we are, we can rally and fight back," Wells explained postgame.
Washington State improved to 23-7 overall and 14-5 in Pac-12 play. WSU will welcome the Washington Huskies for the Boeing Apple Cup series Thursday, March 7.
