PALO ALTO ““ Don’t blame the defense.
Even though UCLA didn’t get the win Thursday night, the
Bruin defense finally clicked, recording its best performance of
the season.
In fact, the 52 points the Bruins surrendered were the least
since a 65-50 UCLA win over UC Riverside in December 2001.
“Before tonight, our defense had been lazy all
season,” said point guard Ryan Walcott.
Last night the team finally came to life on the defensive end,
out-rebounding the Cardinal on both ends of the court. In fact, it
was the first time in the past five games that the Bruins have won
the battle on the boards.
And they did it without their best rebounder, forward Andre
Patterson, who only played three minutes after spraining his ankle.
Patterson, with an average of 5.7 rebounds per game, led the team
going into Thursday night’s contest.
“We got great contributions from everyone,” UCLA
head coach Steve Lavin said. “They collectively stepped up in
Andre’s absence and did a great job in the paint.”
UCLA didn’t make any major changes to its defensive
strategy, several players said. The difference was in the
execution.
The team consistently located Stanford’s top scorers on
the floor, holding guard Julius Barnes to six points and guard Matt
Lottich to two points. Barnes and Lottich had been averaging 14.1
and 10.5 points per game, respectively.
“We stuck with the game plan,” said forward Dijon
Thompson. “We knew who their shooters were and we stuck with
them.”
The Bruins hadn’t held a Pac-10 opponent to such a low
point total on the road in 16 years when they won at Arizona State
61-51.
On the other hand, the team also made some dubious history.
Thursday’s game was the lowest scoring win at Maples Pavilion
ever for Stanford, which opened in 1969.
“We’re angry that we lost, but we’re happy
because we are definitely getting better as a team," Walcott
said.
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Andre Patterson will be OK.
A minute-and-a-half into the game, he tripped and twisted his
left ankle while going into defensive transition.
Patterson returned briefly later in the half but came out after
only another minute because his ankle was too sore for him to
continue.
After the game, Patterson was on crutches but said he would be
cleared to play at Cal on Saturday.
“Even if you have to cut my ankle off, you can’t
keep me out (of Saturday’s game),” he said.