When you’ve got as long a list of issues as the UCLA men’s basketball team had through five games, sometimes you’ve got to start by addressing the small things.
Like communicating on defense, hustling to capitalize on loose balls and fighting tooth and nail on both sides of the ball — even when a stray elbow takes out two of your pearly whites.
UCLA soundly defeated Pepperdine, 62-39, Monday night at the Sports Arena. In the process, the Bruins (2-4) started to make progress on their “fix-it” list. That wasn’t the case through their first five games, including a 1-2 trip to Maui, when the list just kept growing.
“We learned that defensively we weren’t very good,” redshirt sophomore David Wear said of the team’s performance in the Maui Invitational. “We didn’t match our opponent’s intensity. I think tonight we really got together and showed how good a team we can be defensively.”
It was apparent early, when the Waves failed to crack double digits on the scoreboard until just under two minutes to go in the first half. Though the Bruins weren’t spectacular on offense, holding an opponent to 11 first-half points was a significant improvement.
“Rotating, helping, scrambling, supporting one another, switching when we needed to switch — our team defense was by far our best effort that we’ve had all year,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
The Bruins finished with eight blocks and 10 steals against the out-manned Waves (3-3) while finally notching a win over a Division I opponent. They also forced 15 turnovers and scored 21 points off the miscues.
Senior point guard Lazeric Jones led the team with his 14 points, but it was the redshirt sophomore Wear twins who seemed a bit more at ease on offense and defense. David finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Travis had eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
A shot to the mouth dazed Travis early in the second half. When he had a chance to sum up the damage, he saw one of his teeth on the floor and one still hanging by a thread. Damage that could have been prevented if he was wearing his mouthguard.
“Like he was supposed to,” Howland sternly noted. “I think that he’ll be wearing it from now on.”
Attendance dwindling
The Bruins finally got their first “Road Show” win, but did it in front of the their smallest crowd of the year.
In losses to Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State, the announced attendance at the Sports Arena was 5,382 and 4,758, respectively.
Howland emphasized how appreciative he was that 3,885 showed up for UCLA’s win over Pepperdine.
“Those are true blue Bruin fans,” Howland said. “1-4 hasn’t happened here in a long time.”
“We’re our biggest fans,” Jones, a captain, added about his team. “If you look back at the tape, you’ll see the bench a little more alive.”