Alfred Aboya, a 6-foot-8-inch, 235-pound man, ran around the court as though he were a young boy being chased in a game of tag.
However, it was perhaps one of the most mature and intelligent plays of the night. He succeeded in his mission of taking as much time off the clock as he could, with just a few minutes left to play, while also drawing an intentional foul.
“(USC’s Daniel) Hackett held me and called the ref and said “˜Foul, foul!'” Aboya said of the play. “I saw that and I started running around because they were trying to stop the clock and I didn’t want that to happen. I was running everywhere trying to get away from them.”
During the entirety of the chase, Aboya was cutting in and out of teammates and opponents until he was finally cornered at the baseline and fouled, after which he had a smile on his face.
Fellow Bruin Josh Shipp laughed but was confused about what exactly Aboya was doing.
“We were laughing because we were all open but we didn’t know it, because we were watching him run around,” Shipp said. “I was just like, “˜What’s going on?’ It was funny.”
The sophomore center also had an impressive second half in other respects. He was able to draw foul after foul on USC’s freshman center Taj Gibson, eventually to the point where the Trojans’ leading rebounder was fouled out.
Aboya, along with fellow center Lorenzo Mata, held Gibson to just three rebounds and four points in the second half. Meanwhile, Aboya, who in the first half picked up three personal fouls in four minutes, played 16 second-half minutes and gave the Bruins several second-chance opportunities by grabbing crucial offensive rebounds.
“I thought Alfred was tremendous in the second half,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “He’s just tenacious.”
Gibson proves to be difficult for most centers, according to Howland, as he is more versatile than most big men. He can step out for an occasional jumper rather than just play inside the key.
Even when the Trojan big man was able to come into the post, Aboya did everything he could to deny him the ball. Aboya credits his teammates for stopping any entry passes.
“We did a good job as a team to deny him the ball in the post,” Aboya said. “That’s what allowed us to win the battle on the boards.”
The Cameroon native was also involved in a slight altercation with RouSean Cromwell down the stretch, before referees intervened to break the two apart, making them shake hands before the next Bruin possession.
“It was really intense in the post with elbows being thrown,” Aboya said. “I never talk, I just play. That’s all I do.”
“Some of them were talking, but that’s part of the game.”
MATA INJURY: Mata injured his left knee during the game and was seen limping along the Bruin sideline during timeouts.
“I don’t know what happened, but I think I got a knee to me,” he said. “But I should be all right to go soon.”