After two consecutive nail biters over ninth-seeded Texas A&M in the second round and 12th-seeded Western Kentucky on Thursday in the Sweet 16, UCLA (34-3) will move on to face perhaps its toughest opponent yet in third-seeded Xavier (30-6) on Saturday.
The Musketeers are led by 5-foot-7-inch point guard Drew Lavender and 6-9 forward Josh Duncan. Duncan exploded for a career-high 26 points against West Virginia in the Musketeers’ overtime victory on Thursday, and it will be imperative for UCLA center Kevin Love to get Duncan into foul trouble.
Bruin point guard Darren Collison has had trouble this year at times guarding smaller point guards – he struggled against Portland State’s Jeremiah Dominguez and Washington’s Justin Dentmon – and Lavender is probably the most talented of the small point guards he has faced. Stopping Lavender’s dribble penetration will be a key for the Bruins, as that is what jump starts a lot of Xavier’s offense.
“I don’t think he turns the ball over a lot,” Collison said. “Any time you have a good point guard play, you go far in the tournament. You can pressure him at times, but you can’t expect much. I’ve got to be able to stay poised on defense.”
Staying poised will be especially key for the Bruins’ guards, especially after they had trouble against the pressure of Western Kentucky on Thursday. Collison fouled out on a careless foul with 5:39 to go in the game, and both Russell Westbrook and Josh Shipp were saddled with four fouls for much of the second half.
“Last game, I took full responsibility for the way we played,” Collison said. “We didn’t play nearly as well. I let my team down.
“I’ve just got to play smarter. I have to be in that situation with my teammates out there.”
But perhaps the most crucial key for the Bruins will be doing what has brought them success for most of the year: working the ball down low to Love in the post.
Love scored a career-high 29 points against Western Kentucky and still went large stretches of the game not touching the ball. Working the ball to him will be especially important in order to make Duncan work on defense and perhaps get him in foul trouble, given how talented he is as an offensive player.
“He is a very good 3-point shooter, Duncan is,” Howland said on Friday, while speaking at a press conference in the Phoenix Suns’ practice gym. “He has a great post-up game around the basket. When you see the next-level guys in the NBA, the guys that are practicing in this gym, there are a lot of them that are similar to that that can post up and play with their back to the basket.”
LUC’S ANKLE: Power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute walked into the media interview room with a boot on his left ankle, but said that he was fine.
“My ankle is great, it feels really good,” Mbah a Moute said. “It is not swollen.”