Cold Bruins Go 0 for OT

TEMPE, Ariz. —  With victories scarce lately, UCLA players had talked about seizing an opportunity Thursday night against Arizona State, the last-place team in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Instead, it was the Bruins who seized up.

UCLA squandered a 14-point lead in the second half and took a giant step backward with a 74-62 overtime loss before 9,339 at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Bruins fell apart at the end, missing all 11 of their shots in overtime, when they were outscored, 14-2.

Reserve forward Justin Allen gave Arizona State the lead for good, 64-62, on a follow shot over UCLA’s Dijon Thompson with 2:51 left in overtime, and the Sun Devils closed it out by making all 10 of their free throws in the last 1:10.

A somber Coach Ben Howland emerged from the UCLA locker room after the game to assess the damage.

“There’s a lot of disappointed kids in there,” he said, “because we had this game.”

The Bruins gave it away with a series of blunders down the stretch. Most damaging was poor free-throw shooting (nine of 23), particularly at the end of the second half, when Thompson and center Ryan Hollins combined to make only one of four foul shots in the last 52 seconds.

Arizona State pulled within three, 60-57, on a three-point basket by reserve guard Kevin Kruger with 36 seconds left in the second half, and, after Hollins missed two free throws, Jamal Hill tied the score with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 14.8 seconds left.

“We didn’t step up and make our foul shots,” Howland said. “And we did a poor job defending the three, when you know that’s what they needed.”

UCLA had a chance to win in the closing seconds of regulation, but Cedric Bozeman missed on a drive to the basket.

“He kind of stumbled,” Howland said. “We were looking for him to jump stop, and it looks like he may have gotten tripped.”

It was the seventh loss in the last eight games for UCLA, which fell to 10-10 overall and 6-6 in the conference.

Arizona State (9-12, 3-9) ended a four-game losing streak.

“I’m really excited for these guys because they battled through

Sophomore forward Ike Diogu had game-high totals of 27 points and 13 rebounds for Arizona State, which made 19 of 20 free throws and outrebounded UCLA, 39-36. The Bruins are 0-7 when outrebounded.

Thompson led UCLA with 18 points and forward T.J. Cummings scored 13 before fouling out early in the overtime.

UCLA twice had a 14-point lead cut to one in the second half, but the Bruins appeared to have weathered Arizona State’s comeback after taking a 59-52 lead on a layup by Bozeman with 1:05 left in the second half.

Diogu responded with a layup that started the Sun Devils on an 8-1 run in the final 53 seconds of regulation.

UCLA played the last minute of regulation and the five-minute overtime without making a basket, finishing 24 of 60 (40%) from the field.

“I was proud of the team for their defensive effort late in the game,” Evans said.

Before that, UCLA held the upper hand. The Bruins made their move in the first three minutes of the second half, when they extended a two-point halftime lead to nine, 34-25, on baskets by Thompson and Trevor Ariza and a three-pointer by Cummings.

Brian Morrison’s three-point basket gave UCLA its biggest lead, 43-29, with 12:34 to play, but that’s as good as it got for the Bruins.

Arizona State made five three-point baskets in the last 10:35 of the second half, including two by guard Stevie Moore, who finished with 14 points.

UCLA started the game lethargically, missing four of five shots, but Thompson’s tip-in at the halftime buzzer gave the Bruins a 27-25 lead.