Yet again, it was a tale of two halves for the No. 3 UCLA
men’s basketball team when it took the court against Arizona
State on Thursday night.
The first half was one characterized by a slow-starting Bruin
squad that made just two field goals in the first 8:35 and found
itself with its greatest deficit of the season, down by 11.
The second half was a completely new story as the Bruins and Sun
Devils found themselves in a complete role reversal. UCLA’s
increased intensity on the defensive end resulted in a mere two
Arizona State points in the first 10:20 of the period.
But at the end, the Bruins won their second consecutive
come-from-behind game, with a 60-50 triumph over the Sun
Devils.
“I think we just played better defensively, caused some
turnovers, and picked up some easy fast-break points,”
sophomore Josh Shipp said of the second half.
The cause for much of the Bruins’ early dismay was a
failure to penetrate Arizona State’s zone defense, something
that has become a great concern for UCLA, as it has struggled to
overcome the zone against most teams showing them the defensive
scheme.
But with freshman Russell Westbrook coming in for the Bruins
during the second half with his team down by eight, UCLA was
finally able to find gaps and get some inside looks, rather than
settling for shots from beyond the arc.
“I was just trying to come in and give a little spark off
the bench,” Westbrook said. “I was watching the game
and I saw a few places where they left some gaps, so when I came in
I tried to just help the team.”
When Westbrook returned to the bench, the Bruins were up by two
points, their first lead since being up 3-0.
Another key factor for the Bruins was their ability to create
second-chance opportunities with big offensive rebounds from
sophomores Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya, who grabbed
seven and three, respectively.
With Arizona State’s zone defense in full effect
throughout the game, UCLA coach Ben Howland was well aware that his
big men would be able to garner several rebounds on the offensive
end and made sure that they did just that.
“It’s really big to get those offensive
rebounds,” Aboya said. “That was the key of the game,
the rebounding, getting second and third shots.”
Aboya also played a crucial role in stopping Sun Devil big man
Jeff Pendergraph in the second half, not giving him any
opportunities to put the ball in the basket and forcing several key
turnovers.
“I was just working on denying him the ball,” Aboya
said. “He shoots a high percentage from the field, so if you
allow him to catch the ball, he’s going to score.”
Though the Bruins were able to get the win, it is becoming
apparent that their struggles with the zone defense aren’t
going away and that it is still an area that needs attention.
“It is a concern,” Afflalo said. “It was
disappointing to let a team come out there and jump on us like
that. That’s nothing that we want to make a habit, because
we’ll lose to a better team.”
The Bruins will turn to starting point guard Darren Collison to
begin attacking the lane and for the rest of their guards to start
hitting their outside shots. On Thursday night, Afflalo shot a mere
2-for-10 from the 3-point line and the Bruins combined to shoot 28
percent from beyond the arc.
In the second half, like he did against USC, Collison began
hitting his shots, and this time found himself on the better end of
a 4-point play. Though he led the Bruins with 16 points and five
assists, the sophomore said it becomes tough to decide when to
shoot and when to pass the ball when playing a zone defense.
“We’re all capable of penetrating and shooting the
ball, so it’s hard at times to determine when to drive and
when to spot up and take the shot,” Collison said.
In the end though, the Bruins knew they could fall back on one
thing that would help guide them to victory.
“We just stuck to our principles and did all the normal
things that we knew we needed to do,” Afflalo said. “In
the end, we know we can get the win.”