If the first game is any indicator, 2010 will be an altogether different ““ and better ““ season for the UCLA men’s basketball team.
A year after squeezing past the NAIA’s Concordia in the opening game of the team’s second-worst season under coach Ben Howland, the Bruins routed Westmont 95-59 in a game that was never in question.
“We were really trying to set our mark from the get-go,” junior guard Malcolm Lee said. “We knew it was an exhibition game, but we all came to the conclusion that we had to approach this game as if we were playing Duke.”
While the Bruins were far from perfect, they showed confidence and cohesion that was missing for the better part of last season.
Running the break at nearly every opportunity, UCLA dunked almost as much as they shot Thursday night and exhibited unselfishness throughout the evening.
After almost every rebound, Howland urged his team to push the ball up court, and by the middle of the second half, the action on the floor of Pauley Pavilion looked a lot like a video game as UCLA widened its lead with alley-oops and fast-break layups.
“I was pleased,” Howland said. “We scored 54 points in the first half and did a nice job getting up and down.”
Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson, who was used primarily as a tough post presence last season, was often the first one down the floor finishing the break off of assists from sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt. Nelson led the Bruins with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He said that running the break came natural to him.
“That’s what I did all of high school,” Nelson said. I was kind of like a point-forward. Obviously I’m not going to be a point-forward on this team, but coach has confidence in me … to either outlet it or just dribble it down as fast as I can.”
Taking over for Nelson in the post, freshman center Joshua Smith made his UCLA debut and looked promising but unpolished. On several occasions his strength allowed him to finish at the rim, but he remained rusty receiving passes in the post.
Smith left the game at the 6:13 mark of the first half after he dove for a loose ball and came up holding his wrist. Smith did not return to the contest and was diagnosed with a sprained right thumb. He will be sent for an X-ray tomorrow and is listed as day-to-day.
Thursday’s contest also ended minor speculation on the Bruins’ starting point guard. Howland chose to start junior transfer Lazeric Jones over returning junior Jerime Anderson. Anderson checked in at the 13:51 mark of the first half and ended with only three fewer minutes played than Jones.
Howland said both played well ““ Jones was particularly strong defensively, and Anderson showed promise on offense with several clean dribble drives and pull-up jumpers.
“I thought they both did a good job,” Howland said. “We played them a little bit together tonight, and that’s definitely something you’ll see again.”
But perhaps most importantly, UCLA played like a D-I program that was supposed to steamroll an NAIA team.
Bruins stymied by recruit
The Bruins beat Westmont but lost to Duke on Thursday afternoon when reports surfaced that Quinn Cook chose the Blue Devils over the Bruins.
Cook, the No. 4-rated point guard in the class of 2011 was said to be between UCLA and Duke but ultimately chose the 2010 national champions over a chance to play in Westwood.