The scene inside the UCLA locker room was bleak when coach Ben
Howland strode through the door at halftime Saturday. The Bruins
trailed crosstown rival USC by 18 points. Nobody moved. Nobody
spoke. “It was like somebody died,” senior Dijon
Thompson said. Howland broke the silence. Instead of diagramming
plays on a chalkboard or launching into a verbal tirade, Howland
kept his message simple, imploring the Bruins to play with more
pride, toughness and tenacity in the second half. UCLA got the
point, emerging from the locker room with a renewed sense of
purpose and rallying for a crucial three-point victory. “We
needed somebody to pump us up,” Lorenzo Mata said.
“They were playing a lot harder than us. We needed to hear
that or we wouldn’t have come out the way we did.”
“It was like we’re his children,” Thompson said.
“He didn’t want us to get beat up. He wanted us to
fight.” And fight they did. UCLA controlled every facet of
the game in the second half, limiting the Trojans to 11-for-30
shooting and out-rebounding USC 21-12. The Bruins opened the half
on a 31-11 run that gave them their first lead of the game at
56-54. “You can’t play in a game of this magnitude and
not come out and play with some kind of heart and some type of
pride,” freshman Arron Afflalo said. “(Howland) said to
play with some heart and some fire, and that’s what we
did.”
ON THE REBOUND: It didn’t take long for Lorenzo Mata to
regain his spot as UCLA’s primary backup at center. Less than
one week after Howland met with him and encouraged him to be more
physical, the freshman responded with his strongest performance in
weeks. Mata played 13 minutes, tallying a season-high eight points
including two key second-half putbacks. He also did a better job of
holding his ground defensively against USC big men Gregg Guenther
and Jeff McMillan. “After last week when coach told me that I
wasn’t playing hard enough, I wanted to make a
statement,” Mata said. “I wanted to show I’m
tough, I’m back, and I’m here to stay.”
McKINNEY UPDATE: UCLA’s Matt McKinney has fully recovered
from the heart condition that limited him to playing a handful of
minutes at a time this season. His heart had not been beating fast
enough to pump enough blood to his muscles during exercise. But a
switch from one prescription drug to another to correct a stomach
ailment seems to have solved the problem. McKinney logged nine
minutes Saturday, scoring four points, snatching three rebounds,
and playing solid defense. “Having his stamina issue figured
out is really big for us,” Howland said. “He did a good
job in both halves.”