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Collison helps UCLA blitz Oregon State

Jan 27, 2008 - 7:31 AM CORVALLIS, Oregon (Ticker) -- Darren Collison's red-hot shooting stole the show.

Collison scored 20 of his 33 points in the first half to fuel No. 7 UCLA to a convincing 85-62 victory over Oregon State in Pac-10 Conference matchup on Saturday night.

Freshman Kevin Love recorded his 11th double-double with 16 points and 21 rebounds and Josh Shipp scored 12 in helping the Bruins earn their sixth straight win over the Beavers.

Love's 21 boards were the most in school history since former standout Ed O'Bannon pulled down 19 on February 26, 1994.

"(Love) had an unbelievable weekend," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "To come home and do what he did on the road is incredible. This wasn't nearly as hostile personally toward him as we experienced on Thursday. For him to come home and play in front of his family and friends and be really controlled with his emotions and be so poised is really big for us."

While the 6-10 Love dominated the glass in his return to his home state, Collison provided the fireworks on the offensive end.

A 6-foot junior, Collison finished 9-of-12 from the floor and made all 13 free throws en route to his best offensive output of the season.

Collison was pretty much a one-man band in the first half for the Bruins (18-2, 6-1 Pac-10), connecting on 6-of-7 shots to help forge a 43-39 edge at intermission.

"Collison did a tremendous job this entire game controlling the tempo," Howland said. "First half, he had 20. Darren had a great weekend; obviously, Kevin did too with 21 rebounds. It was a good team effort, I thought we did a really good job in the second half defensively, on the boards sharing the basketball and we had some really nice passes."

Collison continued to be the story after the break, pouring in eight points during an aggressive 19-4 surge through the first seven minutes of the half to extend the lead to 62-43.

"The difference in the second half is that we didn't come out with the same intensity as we did in the first. That's what we are working on, putting the two halves together," Oregon State freshmen Lathen Wallace said. "I think we will be all right if we put the two halves together. We practice hard, we play hard, so I'm really not sure why we cannot put two together."

Wallace netted a season-best 18 points and Seth Tarver chipped in 16 for the Beavers (6-14, 0-8), who shot just 36 percent (22-of-60) to remain winless in the Pac-10.

"We haven't been shooting the ball well, and anytime you aren't shooting the ball well, you're going to have to go to the basket and get a closer shot or get fouled," Tarver said. "That's what we were trying to do tonight and it was working, we just got to keep going with what's working."