Riley leads UCLA to OT win vs. Washington State
LOS ANGELES — Cody Riley scored 11 of his 19 points in overtime to lead UCLA to a 86-83 win over Washington State on Thursday night.
Riley made the biggest shots when the Bruins needed him most. He scored five field goals in overtime, one more than he did in regulation after coming off the bench.
Chris Smith scored 23 points and Tyga Campbell scored 14 points for UCLA (14-11, 7-5), which has won six of its last eight games.
Isaac Bonton scored 23 points for Washington State, and Jeff Pollard added a career-high 20 points . Pollard also had a career-best four 3-pointers.
Bonton suffered what appeared to be a leg injury late as he hobbled off the court with the help of teammates with 1:06 left in the game.
Smith tied the game with a jumper from the baseline with 17 seconds left in regulation and Bonton missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left as the game went to overtime.
The teams went to overtime on Jan. 4 as well, with the Cougars winning 79-71.
Washington State (1411, 5-7) built as much as a 12-point lead at 50-38 with 13:44 left, but the Bruins battled back.
David Singleton gave UCLA its first lead of the second half, 56-54, on a 3-pointer from the top with 7:14 left in the game.
It was close the rest of the way.
Washington State won two of its last three before Thursday’s loss.
Smith got off to a great start and scored the first seven points for UCLA. He got inside the lane and completed a three-point play twice in the first half. Smith had 12 points in the first half and Tyga Campbell had 12. Campbell’s outside shot was working.
Washington State scored two baskets in the final minute of the first half to take a 3430 lead. Tony Miller scored on a layup with 54 seconds left to break a tie game and after a Campbell missed 3-pointer, Bonton made a layup on the other end for the four-point halftime lead. The Cougars extended that lead to double digits in the second half.
Both teams were cold from the field early. The Bruins weren’t making a lot of shots in the first half but they were getting stops and a stiffened defensive performance has been one of the keys in getting back in the Pac-12 race.