Jaylen Wells scored 27 points to lead No. 19 Washington State to a 77-65 victory over UCLA on Saturday night at Pullman, Wash.
Washington State (23-7, 14-5 Pac-12) remains a half-game behind Arizona (23-6, 14-4) heading into the last week of the regular season.
The Cougars end their regular season at home Thursday against Washington, while Arizona plays at UCLA (14-15, 9-9) on Thursday and at USC on Saturday.
Washington State’s 14 conference wins are its most since the 1982-83 season.
The Cougars improved to 15-1 at home this season.
Myles Rice added 18 points and four assists for Washington State, which has won 10 of its last 11 games.
Andrej Jakimovski added 10 points and nine rebounds, and Isaac Jones had 11 points.
Dylan Andrews led UCLA with 21 points. Sebastian Mack and Lazar Stefanovic each had 11 points, and Adem Bona finished with 10.
UCLA led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but Washington State outscored UCLA 15-5 to tie the game at 28 with 3:18 remaining in the half.
Andrews had 14 points for UCLA in the first half. His two field goals in the last three minutes were the Bruins’ only points after Stefanovic hit a 3-pointer with 6:29 left.
Washington State went on a 12-2 run to take a 40-32 lead at halftime.
UCLA was called for 11 fouls and Washington State four in the first half, which led to the Cougars going 12 of 15 from the free-throw line while Andrews was 2 of 3 in UCLA’s only attempts.
UCLA started the second half outscoring Washington State 7-2, with Bona scoring six of the points, to cut the lead to 42-41 with 17:44 left.
An 11-3 run by the Bruins gave them a 54-51 lead with 10:17 remaining.
UCLA’s Will McClendon was called for a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected for grabbing Isaac Jones’ midsection trying to break free from a screen.
Jones missed both free throws, but Washington State proceeded to go on a 14-2 run.
Wells’ two free throws after Bona fouled out with 3:21 left gave Washington State a 69-60 lead.
–Field Level Media