Bruins turn it on in second half

UCLA's junior point guard did a crossover dribble, moved two steps farther away from his defender and the basket, took aim from 26 feet and made the three-pointer. A tiny fist pump was Collison's only outward exhibition of joy.

Collison scored a career-high 33 points Saturday night as the eighth-ranked Bruins beat Oregon State, 85-62, in a Pacific 10 Conference game in front of a season-high crowd of 8,235 at Gill Coliseum.

Those were the most points by a Bruin since Dijon Thompson had 39 against Arizona State in 2005. Collison made all 13 of his free throws, and freshman Kevin Love had 16 points and 21 rebounds.

Collison's celebratory three-pointer gave the Bruins (18-2, 6-1) a 60-40 lead, and it seemed to mark Collison as fully healthy and happy on a basketball court again.

It was the second game in a row where Collison broke his personal scoring record (he had 22 against Oregon), and the Bruins needed it after a lackluster first half that saw them leading, 43-39.

When the rest of his teammates stood around, tapping their feet, making halfhearted attempts at playing defense or losing track of the shot clock or shooting careless airballs, Collison made a play.

He ran the court after a made free throw to accept an outlet pass from Love and scored. He did a hippity-hop step for a layup. He practiced what Coach Ben Howland preaches -- make a jump stop in the lane, create a little space, make a short shot. He clapped his hands, demanding the ball or some attention to detail from the rest of his team.

The junior sat out the first six games of this season because of a sprained left knee. He had to play with a brace for nearly a month, and two weeks ago Collison had been downcast after hurting his left hip against Washington.

"I'm feeling good again," Collison had said after the Oregon victory. He was feeling great Saturday.

Howland praised Collison's performance.

"He played poised and smart, and I'm really happy for him," Howland said. "Now we've got to build off this."

And Love said the Bruins are more dangerous than ever. "We'll be so much more impressive," Love said.

Collison's one-man stand did come against the worst team in the conference. The Beavers (6-14, 0-8) lost their 10th straight game. No team since USC was 0-14 in the then-Pacific 8 Conference has gone winless in league play, but Oregon State seems headed that way. Coach Jay John was fired last Sunday.