KANSAS CITY, Mo. “”mdash; With Maryland pressing in the second half, UCLA’s offense found an emphatic way to break through.
Freshman Kevin Love broke the press with a downcourt pass to Russell Westbrook, who in turn found an open Josh Shipp for 3 to put the Bruins up 41-23.
“Both these kids (Shipp and Westbrook) made big 3s in the second half, attacking their press,” coach Ben Howland said. “Josh made the first one that really broke the game open.”
The Terrapins’ press troubled the Bruins early, but not enough to give them serious cause for concern at any point about the outcome of their 71-59 victory over Maryland in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.
The Bruins had faced a press against Cal State San Bernardino, but the Terrapins (3-1) represented a step up in competition, creating a lot more problems for UCLA (4-0).
“They came out with great intensity, pressured us, caused some turnovers,” Westbrook said. “But overall our team did a good job staying poised and getting the win.”
The Bruins missed guards Darren Collison and Michael Roll at times and seemed fatigued from having to battle the press for most of the game. UCLA committed 12 first-half turnovers, but improved by using Love in the middle of the court to help break the press.
It was on the boards that Howland’s team really got some separation. The Bruins got second and third looks throughout the night, dominating the glass on both ends of the court. They finished the game with 44 rebounds, 15 more than Maryland.
Love truly led the way for the Bruins with a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds.
“You look at our totals and the most any one guy had was six (rebounds),” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “The most any one of their guys had was 16.”
Love’s 16 boards is a record for a UCLA freshman, breaking JaRon Rush’s mark. Rush had 15 rebounds against Washington on Feb. 27, 1999.
While Maryland did pose the Bruins’ greatest challenge of the season so far, the Bruins were still their own biggest opponent. After jumping out to an early lead, the Terrapins were able to pull within two because of some lapses in focus and sloppy passing by UCLA.
Shipp was hit with a technical foul in the first half for celebrating a dunk. A second foul meant Shipp had to spend most of the first half on the bench, leaving the team without one of its main scoring threats and ball handlers.
When UCLA was on its game, there was not much Maryland could do in response. After going into halftime up 10, the Bruins came out playing strong, and jumped out to a 20-point lead.
“We just came out with good intensity, caused some turnovers and knocked down some big shots,” Shipp said.
The 21 turnovers that the Bruins caused were probably the biggest reason they were able to pull out the win despite shooting 37 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from the 3-point line.
The UCLA defense was able to hold Maryland to a 40 percent shooting clip and the Terrapins shot a dismal 1-for-11 on their 3-point tries.
Monday night’s win had an added significance for Howland and his players. The game was the first basketball game ever to be played in the Sprint Center.
“I didn’t even tell these guys until a day or two ago that this was the inaugural game,” Howland said. “It will always be game No. 1, UCLA with the W. We like that.”