Coming into Saturday’s game against No. 16 Arizona State, the No. 9 Bruins knew they were going to get a determined James Harden. On Thursday night, Harden was held to a career-low four points on 0-of-8 shooting from the field in a 61-49 loss against USC.
The Bruins were correct in their assessment.
After being limited to five points on 2-of-2 shooting in the first half, Harden took over the game down the stretch, scoring 19 points in the second half and overtime in a 61-58 Bruin loss.
“I’m sure he did,” said UCLA guard Josh Shipp when asked if he believed Harden played with extra determination. “He wanted to come out and have a good game. He’s a crafty player, he does a great job of getting to the line and getting foul calls.”
Harden finished the game with 24 points, making eight of his 15 shots. Throughout the game, UCLA guard Jrue Holiday and forward Josh Shipp took the responsibility of guarding Harden. And in the first half, the two succeeded as Harden struggled; he took just two shots and picked up three fouls.
Yet the second half was a different story. The Sun Devils made a conscious effort to run their offense through Harden, running isolation plays and ballscreens, leaving him one-on-one with a Bruin defender. UCLA coach Ben Howland noted that the Bruins’ poor help on defense was another factor in Harden’s success.
“We only had one day to prepare for this and we struggled a couple times today with our help with him and making him give the ball up,” Howland said. “I thought ‘SC did a good job of making him give it up and make other guys beat you.”
Holiday said in the first half he was able to limit Harden’s production by guarding against the left, Harden’s dominant hand. Yet in the second half, Harden displayed an ability to drive with his right.
Another facet of Harden’s game came at the free throw line. In the game he was 7-of-9 from the charity stripe, but none were more important than the two that came near the end of regulation. With 22 seconds remaining in regulation and the Bruins clinging to a 54-52 lead, Harden drove and drew a reaching foul on Shipp. With the game on the line, Harden sank both free throws, tying the game and sending it to overtime.
“He’s a good player, real crafty,” Shipp said. “He got a lot of foul calls, able to get to the line. Bottom line is he’s a good player and he did what he had to do for his team to win.”
While Harden picked up his third foul in the first half, he went the majority of the second half without picking up his fourth foul, finally being called for a foul with 2:16 left in regulation. Shipp said that due to the Arizona State zone, it was hard to draw more fouls on Harden.
“They don’t play man so it’s not like one guy can attack him in the zone,” Shipp said. “He’s hiding in the zone so we can’t really do anything about that.”
Holiday, who played on the same AAU team as Harden, was impressed with his strength, saying that Harden might be the strongest player he has faced so far.
“When you run into him, you’re going to be the one flying,” Holiday said. “He’s still going to be solid.”
HOWLAND DOESN’T USE BENCH EFFECTIVELY: One of the areas UCLA coach Ben Howland pointed to following the Bruins’ 61-58 overtime loss to Arizona State was his use of the bench.
Or, more correctly, his misuse of the bench.
Howland said that he did not do a good job of rotating players, resulting in fatigued players down the stretch. Seniors Josh Shipp and Darren Collison each played 42 minutes, while freshmen Drew Gordon and Jerime Anderson played only three minutes apiece.