BERKELEY “”mdash; Arron Afflalo is a man on a mission these days.
Afflalo carried the Bruins on his back once again, scoring a game-high 25 points, including 20 in the second half, to lead No. 3 UCLA (18-1, 7-1 Pac-10) to a 62-46 victory over Cal (12-8, 4-4).
“I want to play well every night,” Afflalo said.
“I don’t want to define any particular game I have because some games tend to be more meaningful performances at the time. I’m just glad I made some shots tonight.”
Afflalo, who scored 22 points against Arizona on Saturday, outdid himself against the Bears.
Afflalo made all nine of his free-throw attempts (the rest of the team was a combined 0-6 from the line) and was 7-13 from the field, scoring inside on drives while hitting outside shots as well.
He has now scored in double figures for 18 consecutive games to lead the Pac-10.
“It’s fun to watch him score in so many different ways,” sophomore point guard Darren Collison said. “He can pretty much score whenever he wants.”
But perhaps even more important for UCLA was Afflalo’s defense. Cal senior point guard Ayinde Ubaka was averaging 14.7 points per game coming into Thursday’s contest and had a 92-39 assist-to-turnover ratio.
But with Afflalo guarding him, Ubaka was completely shut out offensively, going 0-8 from the field, with only two assists and two turnovers.
The last time Ubaka was held scoreless was Feb. 12, 2004, when the guard was blanked by Stanford.
“(Afflalo) did a great job on Ubaka,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “This will be the first and only game this year that Ubaka has zero points. That kid is a very good player.”
“That was my primary thing tonight, making sure that (Ubaka) didn’t get going,” Afflalo said. “We were very fortunate to contain him as a team ““ it wasn’t just me.”
Early in the game, it looked like Cal was going to give the Bruins all they could handle. In front of a pumped-up crowd of 11,877, the Bears jumped out to an early 16-8 lead, containing what seemed like a helpless Bruin offense.
But as the first half came to a close, UCLA’s defense tightened up and the Bruins started attacking the basket on offense.
“In the first half, I definitely (thought we played ugly),” Howland said. “It was how we executed offensively more than anything.”
The defensive intensity continued and with Afflalo going off in the second half, the Bruins put the game well in hand.
UCLA led by more than 10 points from the 10:34 mark until the end of the game. The win was UCLA’s largest margin of victory at Haas Pavilion since the Bruins defeated Cal 83-62 in Berkeley back in 2000.
“It was just about being more patient,” Howland said about the difference in UCLA’s offense in the second half.
“When you’re playing a team that’s being super-patient, you have to do the same thing they’re doing. That’s where some of those games that we played early in the season help us down the road.”
Another key statistic for the Bruins was rebounding.
While UCLA has struggled in some games to make effective use of its size advantage, the Bruins had no trouble dominating the boards and winning the battle in the paint.
UCLA out-rebounded the Bears 36-25 for the game, with sophomore forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute leading the way with 11 rebounds.
“We hurt ourselves inside,” Cal coach Ben Braun said. “The good teams expose you and UCLA is a very good team.”
It was a game that clearly left a grave mark on a California team that faces a difficult road if it wants to get back into the NCAA Tournament picture.
“You have to play a near perfect game to beat a team like that,” Cal sophomore forward Theo Robertson said.