It was just one of those games for the Bruins.
There were moments of brilliance, but there were also moments to
forget. There were fast-break dunks, but there were also defensive
miscues.
In short, Tuesday night’s 83-70 victory over New Mexico
State in the first round of the preseason NIT looked a lot like one
would expect a season opener to look.
With the victory, the No. 19 Bruins (1-0) will face Temple,
69-37 winners over Army, in the second round Thursday night at
Pauley Pavilion.
“We will play a lot better,” sophomore point guard
Jordan Farmar said. “We have the potential to play a lot
better. But at least we got it done.”
That seemed to be the general sentiment from the Bruins Tuesday
night.
UCLA came out of the gates fast, scoring easy baskets on a
number of fast-break opportunities, but the team had trouble
holding that momentum.
Though the Bruins led by 13 with 3:16 to play in the first half,
New Mexico State refused to go away, and the Aggies (0-1) cut the
lead to seven at halftime.
The Aggies got as close as four early in the second half, but in
the end UCLA simply had too much talent.
“It’s good to get the first one out of the way, and
I’m glad we got the win,” coach Ben Howland said.
That is not to say, however, that the Bruins played to the
ability they are capable of.
Farmar, who finished with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting,
singled himself out, saying he needs to make better decisions at
the point guard spot.
“I’ll definitely look inside myself, and I think
some of my teammates will too. And that will make us a better
team,” he said.
Sophomore guard Arron Afflalo, who finished with a career-high
23 points, with six rebounds and three assists, was upset with
himself afterward for his defensive play.
“It seems like tonight I almost forgot about what I was
supposed to do defensively,” said Afflalo, who prides himself
on his defense. “Their guards really got off
tonight.”
New Mexico State guards Shaun Davis and Elijah Ingram combined
to score 39 of the Aggies’ 70 total points.
But the Bruins were not lacking bright spots in the game.
Senior forward Cedric Bozeman, who missed all of last season
with a torn ACL, was impressive in his first regular-season game in
over a year and a half.
He finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. He
also did a good job for UCLA on the defensive end, helping to hold
Aggie forward Tyrone Nelson, New Mexico State’s leading
scorer in its two exhibition victories, to only seven points.
“I thought Ced had an outstanding game,” Howland
said. “Boy, it’s good to have him back.”
Bruin fans also got a pretty good look at the future of the
program, as freshmen Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Mike Roll and Darren
Collison all played significant minutes.
Roll hit a big 3 shortly after coming off the bench in the first
half, and Mbah a Moute grabbed six second-half rebounds to lead the
Bruins.
At one point in the first half, Howland looked out to see the
three freshman on the floor together.
“I thought, “˜God, we’re young,'”
Howland said. “We’re very, very youthful.”
It looked like UCLA had seized control of the game about midway
through the second half Tuesday night, running the lead to 17. But
two quick 3-pointers from Ingram brought the Aggies back.
It was not until UCLA answered with a 6-0 run, capped by Farmar
hitting a jumper with the shot clock winding down, that the outcome
was sealed.
“At the end of the day, all that matters is that we get
the victory and get on out of here with the W,” Farmar
said.