Defend and rebound.
It’s the mantra UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland has
attempted to ingrain into the minds of his players all season
long.
So when it actually does come to fruition on the court, as it
did against California at Pauley Pavilion, nights like Thursday are
to be expected.
UCLA won in a 66-49 laugher, showing the kind of intensity and
toughness that have been lost on the Bruins (11-11, 7-7 Pac-10), as
they had previously lost eight of their last nine games.
“These kids have been through a lot of adversity, but they
still remain positive,” Howland said. “And we still
have a lot of basketball left to play.”
It might not seem like that to senior T.J. Cummings, though.
With his college career coming to a close, the forward had one of
his best games of the season, scoring 19 points and pulling down 10
rebounds.
“It seems like when T.J. has a double-double, the Bruins
are going to win,” Howland said. “He played a great
all-around game.”
Cummings now needs just nine points to reach 1,000 for his
career.
He combined with center Ryan Hollins for a yeoman-like effort in
guarding Cal forward Leon Powe, the Bears’ leading scorer and
the Pac-10’s leading rebounder this season.
Powe, who killed the Bruins with 19 points and 14 rebounds in
their game at Cal last month, did not score in the first half and
finished with 10 points and six rebounds on the night.
“Coach had us really prepared to guard Powe,”
Hollins said. “It was a team effort.”
Six of Cummings’s 14 first-half points on 7-for-7 shooting
came in the midst of an 11-0 run that gave the Bruins a 26-12
lead.
Cal center Amit Tamir followed with a fallaway, but the Golden
Bears (11-11, 7-6) failed to score a single point for the final
seven minutes of the half, as UCLA led 30-14.
“Our defense in the first half ““ holding (Cal) to 25
percent shooting ““ was a huge factor,” Howland
said.
Tamir scored nine quick points coming out of the locker room in
the second half, cutting the lead to 11 points, but UCLA eventually
pushed its lead to as many as 25.
It helped that UCLA outrebounded Cal 31-29, considering the
Bruins are 0-8 when they lose the rebounding advantage.
Guard Dijon Thompson had 14 points, and Hollins added nine.
Brian Morrison was not healthy enough to play, not practicing
well enough Monday and Tuesday as he had the previous week, Howland
said.
Morrison refused to comment after the game.
But with Morrison out, substitutes Jon Crispin, Michael Fey,
Janou Rubin and Ryan Walcott played solid minutes.
Crispin, a senior shooting guard, especially stood out,
connecting on two three-pointers, giving him a season high in
points and causing the student section to chant his name.
Howland will now reward him with starts in UCLA’s final
two home games, including Saturday’s tilt against No. 1
Stanford.
About the only players who didn’t play well were the
walk-ons, who checked in with 1:29 remaining to roars from the
Pauley crowd and proceeded to get off just one shot that
didn’t even hit the rim.
Still, the surprise of the game was UCLA’s showing the
desire to defend and rebound.
“I don’t think (Cal) was ready for us to play as
hard as we did,” Crispin said.
Guard Cedric Bozeman, however, wasn’t shocked by actually
playing well.
“We’re always capable of playing like this,”
he said. “It’s just a matter of putting two halves
together.”
Now that the Bruins have seen their potential, can a last-ditch
run to make the NCAA tournament be had?
Well, this is a start.