Freshman center Joshua Smith came off the bench to lead the Bruins with 15 points Wednesday.
Lazeric Jones drained his first shot attempt of the game over Maurice Jones and shook his head, as if to say, “we’ve got this one.”
Late in the second half, the Joneses were at it again. Maurice, the USC starting guard, streaked down the court ready to turn a one-on-nothing fastbreak into a lay-up, but his UCLA counterpart, Zeek, met him at the rim to sway his shot away.
The Bruins’ junior point guard smiled as the 10,419 at Pauley Pavilion roared its approval. The blue and gold faithful who packed the house weren’t ready to see UCLA lose another one to the cardinal and gold, and Zeek and the Bruins didn’t disappoint in a 64-50 win over the Trojans Wednesday night.
The win improved the Bruins’ record to 15-7, 7-3 in the Pac-10, and brought them to within half a game of first in the conference.
It was the first win in five tries against the crosstown rival Trojans (12-11, 4-6), and the meaning of the win wasn’t lost on the young Bruins, who celebrated on the floor after ending a streak that spanned three seasons.
“Our crowd was fantastic tonight,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I was really, really excited by the amount of electricity in the building and how great our students were.”
The Bruins started hot ““ making their first five field goals ““ and they closed the half shooting 58 percent.
“We knew they would play with a sense of urgency after having beaten them four in a row,” USC coach Kevin O’Neill said.
But a number of late defensive lapses resulted in a 9-2 Trojan run and cut the Bruins’ lead to just one at the half.
“All the guys in the locker room were just like, “˜we’ve got to keep our heads in the game,'” said junior guard Malcolm Lee, who scored 13 points.
Trojan forward Alex Stepheson’s dunk after the break put USC up 37-36 ““ its first lead since 6-5 early ““ with the two teams trading baskets after the half.
The dynamic frontcourt duo of Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic once again gave the Bruins’ frontline trouble. They combined to score the Trojans’ first eight points of the second half ““ all in the paint.
But UCLA pulled away shortly thereafter on the heels of its defense, which for a second had looked like it was fading away, just as it had in USC’s win at the Galen Center on Jan. 9.
A USC layup gave UCLA just a one-point edge at 46-45, but the Trojans would score only five points in the remaining 11:43.
The Bruins had been double-teaming Vucevic the entire game, but Howland told sophomore forward Reeves Nelson and freshman center Joshua Smith to keep it to just man-on-man defense during USC’s drought late in the second. Down the stretch, they held Vucevic scoreless and made sure the battle of the bigs didn’t tip the Trojans’ way again.
“With Vucevic you just have to be physical with him,” said Smith, who had a team-leading 15 points and six rebounds, and managed to stay out of foul trouble in a matchup that had given him trouble the first time around.
The fuel of the defense was the passionate Pauley crowd ““ the largest of the year ““ which bemoaned every questionable call and cheered every hustle play as the Bruins pulled away.
By the time sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt put in a two-handed slam over a shove from USC forward Marcus Simmons to extend the UCLA lead to 12, the crowd was as loud as it had been all night ““ possibly all season ““ and the nail was in the coffin.
UCLA celebrated much like USC had at the Galen Center ““ loudly, enthusiastically, and before the final whistle had even blown.
“We were just excited,” Smith said. “Anytime you play your rivals at home and you win, you’re just like “˜We did it.'”