BY RYAN ESHOFF
LAHAINA – Well we’ve seen worse. Specifically, last night. UCLA avoided digging itself too deep a hole in the first half of Wednesday’s consolation game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, although the Bruins still trail by seven to Michigan.
UCLA senior point guard hit a fall-away three-pointer from the corner at the halftime buzzer to cut the deficit to 38-31.
Despite their size and depth up front, the Bruins couldn’t contain Michigan sophomore forward Jon Horford, who was five-for-five from the field and led all scorers with 12 points. UCLA center Joshua Smith was just as assertive for his team, scoring 6 points on easy layups before going back to the bench with two fouls.
Travis Wear leads UCLA with 10 points, and Anderson has eight, along with three steals.
The Bruins did hold Michigan to just two three-point makes, and hit four of their own. But to have a chance to end their trip to Maui with a win, they’ll need to keep Smith on the floor as much as possible and take better command of the paint on defense.