Nothing about the season opener came easy for UCLA. But in the
end, the Bruins were able to hold off a feisty BYU team and start
off the season victorious. The Bruins overcame a three-point
halftime deficit to defeat the hot-shooting Cougars by a final
score of 82-69. “It was a hard-fought win ““ probably
not real bright scheduling on my part,” UCLA coach Ben
Howland said. “(BYU) is an NCAA Tournament team. I’ll
be shocked if they’re not in the tournament. We’d like
to not play them again.” After the Bruins played strong
defensively in the first few minutes of the game, BYU went on a
shooting streak that lasted the duration of the first half. The
Cougars shot 14-21 from the floor and 8-9 behind the 3-point arc
before halftime. Although BYU did cool down slightly in the second
half, it still managed to finish the game shooting a very strong
57.8% from the floor.
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“They had some good looks in transition,” Howland
said. “They did get some looks because we doubled the post
some.” But in the second half, the Bruins played tenacious
defense and both Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Darren Collison took
over and completed career games. Mbah a Moute showed instantly why
he has been generating so much preseason hype. The sophomore
forward shattered his previous career high of 17 points, scoring 24
against the Cougars and leading the team with 11 rebounds in 34
minutes. Collison meanwhile, was as impressive as he could have
been in his first game without Jordan Farmar on the roster.
Collison set career highs in points (16), assists (10) and minutes
(38), while turning the ball over only once. The sophomore point
guard displayed active enthusiasm and leadership on the court and
played the entire second half, toughing out nagging cramps.
“I thought (Luc and Darren) played great tonight,”
junior guard Arron Afflalo said. “That’s the best
I’ve seen them play together as a whole. They both played a
complete floor game tonight.” Another bright spot for the
Bruins in their opener was junior center Lorenzo Mata, who started
and played 21 minutes. Mata scored 4 points and had 4 rebounds, but
his defensive job against BYU sophomore center Trent Plaisted was
especially key. “I really believe Lorenzo Mata’s 21
minutes were critical to getting this win,” Howland said.
“His size and his ability to defend and be a presence out
there was really important for us.” Coming into the game,
Plaisted, the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year,
was one of the primary concerns for the Bruin defense. While the
focus on Plaisted did allow some open looks for BYU’s
shooters, Plaisted was frustrated all night by double teams,
committing two offensive fouls in the first half. He was forced to
sit after picking up his fourth foul with 13:28 to go and was not
put back in until late in the game. “We did a great job on
Plaisted tonight,” Howland said. “He will be a
dominating factor throughout the year.” While the Bruins
struggled to guard BYU’s outside shooters, they dominated the
game inside. UCLA outrebounded BYU 31-21, picking up 14 offensive
rebounds. The Bruins also forced 23 turnovers while turning the
ball over just 13 times. Still, Howland knows that the defense has
to improve if it is to succeed next week. “I’m not
happy with 57% from the field. They’re a good team, but we
are going to have to do a much better job when we go to
Maui,” Howland said.
SCARY MOMENT: In the closing seconds of the
game, sophomore guard Josh Shipp was fouled hard on a dunk by BYU
sophomore guard Lee Cummard, who was called for an intentional
foul. Shipp, recovering from a hip injury that kept him out most of
last year, was suffering from cramps at the end of the game, but
said it was nothing serious. He downplayed the foul. “I
didn’t think it was an intentional foul,” Shipp said.
“It was a good, hard foul. That’s how I would foul
somebody if they were trying to dunk on me.” In addition to
Collison’s cramps, Afflalo also tweaked his knee during the
game, but said that he was fine afterward.