EAST LANSING, Mich. “”mdash; One-dimensional, hurried and totally
predictable, UCLA had but one weapon with which to attack Michigan
State on Tuesday night ““ the 3-point shot. Unable to generate
any offense in the paint, the Bruins instead hoisted up a
season-high 27 shots from behind the arc, making 10 of them, but
exposing their lack of a consistent interior scoring threat in the
process. "A couple of the threes were really good looks, but we
still have to get the ball inside," UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
"There’s not a real high confidence level throwing the ball in the
post. Someone’s got to step up and be more aggressive in there."
None of the Bruin big men were the aggressors against the Spartans
““ not Michael Fey, not Lorenzo Mata, and not Ryan Hollins.
Fey, a junior, did score six points in the first half on a pair of
three-point plays, but he played sparingly in the second half and
did not take a shot. Neither Hollins nor Mata scored a point. "It’s
the guards’ fault," freshman guard Arron Affalo said. "We have to
give Mike Fey and Ryan Hollins a chance. And on their part, they
need to demand the ball, do something with it, and make plays for
others as well." The result was that the Bruins, who came into the
game averaging 16 attempts from behind the arc per game, relied
almost exclusively on the 3-point shot in their half-court offense.
At one point late in the second half, UCLA had made 10 threes, but
only converted eight two-pointers. Afflalo, Josh Shipp and Dijon
Thompson combined to go 9-for-18 from 3-point range, but freshman
point guard Jordan Farmar struggled, netting just one of his eight
attempts. Though many of the looks were open, the UCLA guards
frequently were guilty of settling for a 3-pointer instead of
attempting to penetrate the Michigan State defense in hopes of
creating a higher-percentage shot. "They’re a good help defensive
team," Afflalo said. "They had the paint packed in pretty tight and
they were cutting our penetration off. We’ve got to get better at
getting in the gaps or establishing a post game."
HELD IN CHECK: Matched up against 6-foot-6 Alan
Anderson, another undersized power forward, Thompson was unable to
duplicate the 29-point performance that he posted against Michigan
on Saturday. The 6-foot-9 senior managed 15 points and 11 rebounds,
but did not have a big edge in quickness against Anderson like he
did against the brawnier Wolverine big men. "I saw what happened to
Michigan, and that’s what we tried to stay away from," Michigan
State coach Tom Izzo said. "There are not a lot of big guys who can
stay with him."
SHIPP SAILING: UCLA’s most consistent offensive
threat for much of the game was Shipp, who scored a career-high 18
points. Howland, however, was quick to point out that the freshman
wing made a few errors ““ most notably shooting a contested
25-footer late in the first half that helped fuel a 14-1 Michigan
State run. He also did not pull down a defensive rebound for the
second consecutive game.
FEY SITS: Howland chose to start Mata at center
in place of Fey after the 7-foot junior was late for the team bus
on Sunday morning. Fey entered the game with 17:21 remaining in the
first half after Mata picked up his second foul, but played a
season-low 15 minutes.
DRIBBLERS: Thompson was named Pac-10 Player of
the Week on Tuesday after his 29-point performance Saturday against
Michigan “¦ Los Angeles Lakers great and Lansing native Magic
Johnson, a member of Michigan State’s 1979 national championship
team, was back in the area to spend the holidays with his family
and attended the game.