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Mbah a Moute helps UCLA capture eighth straight win

Jan 11, 2008 - 7:52 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and UCLA kept Washington searching for its first conference win.

Mbah a Moute scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half as the fifth-ranked Bruins posted a 69-55 victory over the Huskies in a Pac-10 Conference game on Thursday.

Russell Westbrook had 18 points and freshman Kevin Love added 11 and seven rebounds for UCLA (15-1, 3-0 Pac-10), which jumped out to a big lead in the first half en route to recording its eighth straight win.

The strong effort for the Bruins kept the Huskies (9-6, 0-2) one of three teams winless teams in league play.

Looking for just its third win in its last seven games with Washington, UCLA took control of the game on a 9-0 run that gave the Bruins a 23-12 lead with 7:15 left in the field half.

Darren Collison, who was kept out of the game for most of the second half due to a hip injury, capped the spurt with a layup. The junior point guard finished with eight points.

It has not been a good week for Collison, who missed a practice due to food poisoning that caused him to go to the hospital.

The cushion grew to 34-20 less than four minutes later behind a 7-0 run. Mbah a Moute had five points during the burst.

Mbah a Moute's jumper in the opening moments of the second half extended the lead to 43-23 and the Bruins cruised thereafter.

The Huskies did attempt to make things interesting, closing within 11 points at 57-46 with 10:21 remaining on the strength of a 14-3 lead. Jon Brockman had seven points during the burst.

However, Washington to move no closer as UCLA improved to 42-3 all-time against the Huskies at Pauley Pavilion.

Mbah a Moute finished 6-of-11 from the field and Westbrook went 6-of-8 as the Bruins shot 52 percent (24-of-46).

Josh Shipp scored nine points and Lorenzo Mata-Real added six for UCLA, which will square off with undefeated Washington State (14-0) here on Saturday.

Brockman finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for Washington, which actually held a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint.