In the four conference games this season, UCLA has typically
relied on only one big man down the stretch. On Saturday, it was
Lorenzo Mata. The freshman center played 13 second-half minutes and
essentially sealed the win for UCLA with his put-back lay-up with
less than a minute to play, giving the Bruins a 91-86 lead. Mata,
who played sparingly against Washington State and just six
first-half minutes against the Huskies, played ahead of starting
center Michael Fey during the critical stages of Saturday’s
game. With a little over a minute to play, he blocked a Nate
Robinson shot that enabled the Bruins to maintain their two-point
lead at the time. “Lorenzo played huge minutes for us and is
getting valuable experience,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
“Defensively he was being active and contesting
rebounds.” Howland indicated that the Washington schools
posed matchup problems for Fey, even though the center enjoyed two
of his best games against Washington last season. As a result, the
bulk of the minutes went to Hollins and Mata. “Their bigs are
really four men,” Howland said of the centers for Washington
and Washington State. “They play a lot on the perimeter.
It’s a lot of room to cover when trying to hedge and cover
screens. It’s a lot of ground to try to make up and Lorenzo
and Ryan were better at doing that.”
A LITTLE PAYBACK: Three years ago, senior Brian
Morrison was a sophomore at North Carolina considering transferring
to Washington. On Saturday, he was a catalyst for UCLA in defeating
the Husky program that didn’t have a scholarship for him.
Morrison, a Washington native, scored all 19 of his points in the
second half to spark the Bruins’ dramatic comeback. His
three-pointer with eight minutes left in the game gave UCLA its
first lead since the start of the game. “We all knew we were
going to start hitting shots,” said Morrison, who made all
six of his second-half shots after going 0-for-2 in the first half.
“As long as our defense was there, we were going to win the
game.” While his sharpshooting allowed UCLA to claim narrow
leads down the stretch, Morrison’s defense ensured its lead
in the waning moments would not be forfeited. With 18 seconds left,
he stripped the ball from Will Conroy to completely solidify the
victory. Since the start of conference play, Morrison has been a
spark plug that has helped UCLA get off to a 3-1 start in the
Pac-10. He has averaged 15 points a game after averaging just 2.5
in the four games leading up to conference play.
DRIBBLERS: Former UCLA coach Steve Lavin was in
attendance in Pauley Pavilion for the first time since getting
fired in 2003. Former NBA coach Pat Riley was also at
Saturday’s game scouting players. … According to
CollegeRPI.com, UCLA is ranked No. 15 in the nation. They were No.
28 going into the weekend. … Washington’s last
regular-season Pac-10 loss came to UCLA last year at Pauley
Pavilion. UCLA is now 40-2 against the Huskies at Pauley
Pavilion.