PULLMAN — Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points, Adem Bona made the winning basket with 19 seconds left and the No. 11 UCLA men’s basketball team overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to beat Washington State 67-66 on Friday night.
The Bruins (11-2, 3-0 Pac-12) won their ninth straight thanks to a terrific defensive effort in the final 10 minutes when the Cougars (5-9, 0-3) went cold on offense and allowed UCLA the chance to rally.
“It means a lot. It just shows the toughness of this team and how far we’ve come,” Jaquez said. “We could have easily folded, but we didn’t. We decided to stick it out, play defense and work and do whatever we can to get back in this game.”
Jaquez scored 16 points in the second half and was 10 for 10 at the free-throw line. Tyger Campbell added 16 points and David Singleton scored 14, making a jumper with 1:43 left that pulled the Bruins to 64-63.
DJ Rodman led Washington State with a season-high 19 points and had a reasonably good look at a winning three-pointer in the final seconds, but it hit the rim and UCLA won on the Palouse for the third time in its last eight trips.
“My eyes lit up because it’s that moment that you wish for, a game-winner,” Rodman said. “I mean, I’m not going to beat myself up too much on that because there’s a lot more that gets us to that place. We shouldn’t have been down one at that moment.”
Rodman made an acrobatic play to keep the ball inbounds a few seconds before his final shot.
Mouhamed Gueye collected 18 points and 18 rebounds for Washington State. His free throws with 1:14 left gave the Cougars a 66-63 lead.
But Jaquez made a pair from the foul line to make it a one-point game and after a Campbell steal, Bona’s layup attempt after a pass from Will McClendon was goaltended by Gueye and gave UCLA the lead. It was the Bruins’ first lead since 5-3.
UCLA made 21 of its 22 free throws in the game, which helped offset its 27% shooting in the first half.
WSU scoring leader TJ Bamba was held to five points on 2-of-9 shooting. The Cougars missed 11 of their final 12 shots and didn’t have a field goal after Justin Powell’s three with 7:23 left.
The Bruins played without starting guard Amari Bailey because of a sore foot. Bailey traveled with the team but did not suit up.
Bona started in Bailey’s place and finished with seven points.
Washington State has lost five of its last six games and seven of nine in the month of December. Five of those losses have been by nine points or less.
On Sunday, UCLA visits Washington and WSU hosts USC.