TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; The Bruins spent much of Friday lounging around the pool, playing cards, and relaxing in their rooms in preparation for their contest against Arizona.
UCLA coach Ben Howland decided not to put his team through a strenuous practice the day before its game against the Wildcats because of how it has worked out for the Bruins in the past.
“Part of us coming out strong and staying strong was me not being so stupid and wearing our guys out the day before a game,” Howland said.
Earlier in the season when UCLA took on Oregon after having played Oregon State, Howland had scheduled an intensive practice for his squad in hopes of better preparing them for the Ducks.
With his team exhausted the next day on the court in Eugene, Ore., the Ducks were able to hand the Bruins their first loss of the season, beating UCLA by a score of 68-66.
Howland put much of the blame on himself, saying that he overworked the players in practice in hopes of prepping them to take on a talented opponent in a rowdy environment.
Just a few weeks later, the Bruins found themselves in a similar situation after having beaten Cal and getting ready to take on Stanford at Maples Pavilion, another arena known to cause trouble for visiting teams.
The Bruin coach once again decided to have his team practice since they wouldn’t be taking on the Cardinal until Sunday after having played on Thursday.
Yet again, the Bruins left a road trip in bad spirits after blowing a 17-point first-half lead.
And once again, Howland took much of the blame for the lackadaisical second half in which most of his players seemed severely fatigued.
“I worked them too hard for two days before Stanford,” Howland said. “We went too long the day before, which was an unwise move.”
This time around, however, the coach learned from the experience that it would be best to rest his team before heading into the McKale Center to face a talented Arizona team after having squeaked out a win just two days earlier against Arizona State.
His strategy worked, as the Bruins got off to a quick start and maintained their level of play throughout the game, answering all of the Wildcats’ runs with runs of their own and playing 40 solid minutes.
NOT THIS TIME: Sophomore forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute made certain to stop freshman forward Ivan Radenovic from becoming too involved in Arizona’s offense, as he was a large part of the reason that the Wildcats were able to keep the score close in the two teams’ previous meeting.
“Radenovic is a very good player,” Mbah a Moute said. “We just tried to limit his touches and tried to do the little things that make it harder for him to score. I think we did a good job of doing that.”
Mbah a Moute, who didn’t play in the first game against Arizona at home because of a sprained left knee, helped hold Radenovic to just four points and three rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
INJURY UPDATE: Mbah a Moute, who took a finger to the right eye in Thursday night’s game against the Sun Devils, said his eye was feeling much better and that it didn’t affect his play on Saturday.
However, his eye was still noticeably red during and after the game.
“It feels a lot better,” Mbah a Moute said. “I iced it for a few hours on Friday and the swelling went down and I can see fine, so it’s fine.”
DRIBBLERS: Saturday’s win tied UCLA’s largest margin of victory over Arizona on the road, which came in 1982. … The Bruin victory was the fifth consecutive win over the Wildcats. … Arizona now drops to 4-14 against ranked teams in the last two years.