The last time the UCLA men’s basketball team had taken on a ranked opponent at home, they fell behind early and eventually lost 63-61 to then No. 8 Texas, snapping a 25-game home winning streak.
This time around, the Bruins knew they couldn’t afford to hand their opponent another early lead.
“There were a couple of games this season where we got down in the first half, and we didn’t want to do that today,” freshman center Kevin Love said after the Bruins’ 81-74 win over Washington State.
UCLA avoided that by coming out with a fiery intensity on both ends of the floor.
Offensively, the Bruins got a spark on the very first basket, as junior Josh Shipp converted on a deep 3-point field goal attempt.
“It just kind of got the whole team fired up,” Shipp said.
The continued offensive pressure got to the Cougars, especially Derrick Low, who picked up two early fouls, forcing him to the bench for much of the first half. At halftime, he was scoreless and had registered just seven minutes of playing time.
“We’re happy about them,” Howland said of Low’s early fouls. “It was good to get him out of the game. Anytime you lose one of your best players to foul trouble, that’s huge.”
On defense, UCLA didn’t allow a single field goal until 8:38 into the game. By that point, the Bruins had already put up 16 points of their own.
The Cougars suffered two long scoring droughts that added up to more than 10 minutes in the first half, as the Bruins were able to successfully double the post and trail their guards. UCLA forced nine turnovers in the half, nearly matching their season average of 10.6 per game.
“You tend to get anxious and you want to go and double or get out of your rotation, but that’s what they look for,” Shipp said of the slow-paced, patient Cougar offense. “They wait for you to make a mistake and they capitalize on it.
“I think when we come out with a high level of intensity and we play like we do, it’s hard for other teams to compete with us.”
POWERFUL PAC-10: The Pac-10 has transformed into what is perhaps the most competitive conference in the nation over the past few years. Nearly every team seems capable of pulling an upset any given week, and it’s believed that the conference could send as many as six or seven teams to the NCAA Tournament.
While Saturday’s matchup between the No. 4 Cougars and No. 5 Bruins was just the sixth Pac-10 meeting between two teams ranked in the top five, Howland doesn’t think it will be the last.
“I’m shocked that this is the sixth time ever that a 4 and a 5, top-five teams, have played each other,” he said. “I’m absolutely shocked. Trust me it will not be the last; this league is getting too good.”
With the increased level of play in the conference, the players understand that no game can be taken for granted, and no win is easy.
“There’s so many great teams and so many great players that it’s tough to win anywhere,” Love said. “There’s no team that you can look past and no team you can look over.”