After studying film and the scouting report for Oregon, UCLA
knew that if it wanted to win its second Pac-10 game of the season,
it had to stop the Ducks’ ability to shoot
three-pointers.
Not only did the Bruins prepare for Oregon’s shots beyond
the arc, but they brought the Ducks’ wing play from highly
efficient to the worst they’ve shot all year ““ and as a
result, the Bruins walked away with an 81-74 victory.
“We did a great job all game of getting to their
three-point shot,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “That
was a huge focus. I can’t emphasize enough ““ this is a
huge win.” Going into Sunday afternoon’s game, the
Ducks posted a 45.4 percent three-point shooting average for this
season ““ what Howland considered the best in the country. In
comparison, the Bruins were only averaging 37.1 percent beyond the
arc. With junior shooting guard Brian Morrison out with a hamstring
injury, the Bruins had no plans to try to outshoot the Ducks beyond
the line.
The key to stopping Oregon at the arc? Pressure.
“We knew coming in that the whole team shoots well from
the (three-point) line,” senior forward T.J. Cummings said.
“We knew that every time, especially on fast breaks, they
wouldn’t cut to the basket, they’d go straight to the
wing.
“As soon as the ball hit their hands, we had to sprint
back up with urgency. They were not going to get an easy shot on us
off the transition.” The plan worked. In the first half, UCLA
limited Oregon to just 4-of-14 shots from beyond the three-point
range ““ a meager 28.6 percent. Not one Oregon player sank
more than one three-pointer. The Bruins, despite going from a
22-point lead to leading by six, kept the pressure strong around
the arc in the second half as well. The Ducks noticeably focused on
shooting in the paint during the second half in response to
UCLA’s effective three-point defense.
“We were going up against a lot of shot pressure,”
Oregon senior guard Luke Jackson said. “It was tough to knock
them down.”
Before Sunday’s game, Jackson averaged 46.5 percent on
three-pointers. Sunday, the Bruins allowed only one of
Jackson’s seven attempts. The Ducks finished the game with
7-of-25 three-point shots.
The Bruins’ shooting beyond the arc was hardly stellar
““ guard Janou Rubin was the only UCLA player to sink a
three-pointer ““ but the difference was that UCLA’s game
plan didn’t revolve around making those shots.
Howland’s mantra of utilizing an aggressive defense, however,
has emerged as UCLA’s key to victory.
“We wanted to make sure we executed on that coming into
the game so we didn’t have any letdowns,” Cummings
said. Sunday? A letdown? Not in the least.