PULLMAN, Wash. — UCLA coach Ben Howland challenged his players before the Washington State game with the goal of winning a second consecutive Pacific-10 Conference championship.

The second-ranked Bruins responded, beating No. 13 Washington State 53-45 last night to wrap up their second straight title, and the 25th in the illustrious history of the Bruins.

Darren Collison said the Bruins remained focused on that goal throughout the grinding defensive battle.

"We were just trying to win the Pac-10 championship," he said.

Arron Afflalo scored 14 points to lead UCLA.

After trailing by one at halftime, UCLA scored the first nine points of the second half during a 15-4 run that all but ended Washington State's hopes of winning the first Pacific-10 championship in its history.

UCLA (26-3, 15-2 Pac-10) had already clinched at least a tie with WSU and the top seed in the tournament before the victory.

The Cougars (23-6, 12-5) trailed 37-27, and could not make that up during a second half in which they made just 8 of 28 shots.

Washington State and No. 23 Southern Cal will play in the regular season finale tomorrow.

Kyle Weaver led WSU with 14 points. 'Iolani alum Derrick Low, WSU's leading scorer at nearly 14 points per game, was held to 2.