There were plenty of missed shots, there was the kind of grinding defense that results in numerous turnovers, and there was a five-minute stretch near the end of the second half when the two teams combined for a grand total of two points. It wasn’t pretty, and scoring chances were often hard to come by.
But the UCLA men’s basketball team still found enough of them to get even with its crosstown rival.
No. 6 UCLA (22-3, 10-2 Pac-10) overcame one of its worst shooting performances of the season to outlast USC on Sunday at the Galen Center, 56-46. The victory avenged a January loss to the Trojans at Pauley Pavilion, and it kept the Bruins in first place in the Pac-10, a half-game ahead of No. 9 Stanford.
While the style of the UCLA win might not have been too aesthetically pleasing, it was particularly satisfying for the Bruins, who were outmuscled and outrebounded in last weekend’s loss at Washington.
“We weren’t shooting the ball too well in the first half or second half,” freshman center Kevin Love said. “Getting that win took offensive rebounds, putbacks, diving on the floor. … We just grinded it out and got the win. We felt like we were tough enough.”
The Bruins needed that toughness and those offensive rebounds ““ they finished with 19 ““ because they were shooting so poorly. They finished 21-of-62 from the field and shot an uncharacteristically poor 12-of-21 from the free-throw line.
Even the usually reliable Love only shot 5-of-14. Faced with frequent double-teams inside, Love’s scoring in the paint was limited, which forced him to find other ways to contribute. He did his usual banging inside ““ good for 11 rebounds, five of them on the offensive end, and two blocks ““ and snatched five steals. He also drained the Bruins’ only two 3-pointers of the game.
“It was a little bit of the game plan because we knew they were going to double- and triple-team me on the inside, (so) we just wanted me to shoot a couple jump shots if I was open,” Love said. “I didn’t shoot the ball particularly well tonight, but we got the win. (We) only shot 33 percent as a team, and to come out with a win like that shows that we have good patience, good defense and a lot of fight in this UCLA team.”
With their offense struggling, the Bruins’ defense had to be especially tough against the Trojans. UCLA forced USC into 22 turnovers, including 10 by star freshman O.J. Mayo, who finished with a season-low four points.
“Even though they shot a pretty good percentage (46.5), the difference in the game was the 22 turnovers on their end, compared to our 10,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “We outboarded them. … We got the ball inside and did a good job of knocking (free throws) down when they were fouling at the end.”
The Trojans were also missing sophomore guard Daniel Hackett, whose absence due to a back injury forced four USC players to play all 40 minutes. Only one Trojan reserve, junior forward Keith Wilkinson, played, spelling freshman forward Davon Jefferson for just over eight minutes; almost all of those came in the first half.
“We played very few players, and they played a lot of minutes,” USC coach Tim Floyd said. “We guarded as well as we’ve guarded and gave up 33 percent shooting and still got beat. We just didn’t get enough shots because of the turnovers.”
Defensively, the Bruins also did a much better job of limiting the Trojans’ transition scoring chances, holding them to only three fast break points. UCLA also held Jefferson, who scored 25 in their first meeting, to only four points. Before this game, Jefferson had said that he believed USC’s defense and big men were better than UCLA’s and that he hoped that the Bruins showed up to the rematch “more physical, with better play.”
While the Bruins were aware of Jefferson’s comments, junior guard Darren Collison said the team didn’t need the added bulletin board material to motivate them for the game.
“We heard it,” Collison said. “Coach (Howland) said, “˜Talk is cheap.’ … Going out and proving it is the most important thing. We were just so focused on this game, we weren’t worried about anything else outside the court.”