Men’s basketball triumphs over Dragons

David Wear needed a breather.

With 10 minutes left to play in the second half of Friday night’s season opener against Drexel, a 72-67 win, the redshirt senior forward had his hands on his hips and was breathing heavily.

In a couple weeks, when his brother Travis Wear and freshman Wanaah Bail, both forwards, return from their respective injuries, the Bruins will have the option of changing out what will become four primary frontcourt players, allowing Wear a sip of Gatorade and sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson a chance to do less in the rebounding game.

Against Drexel, UCLA didn’t have that option.

Sophomore forward/center Tony Parker picked up his fourth foul with 14:47 left to play, resigning him to the bench for much of the second half. Parker played just 20 minutes Friday night, while Wear and Anderson notched 36 and 38, respectively.

“Without Trav, without Wanaah, those aren’t excuses – it’s just reality – we’ve got nowhere else to go on the bench,” said coach Steve Alford. “That puts a lot of pressure on you when you get in foul trouble. We had some lineups out there that we haven’t practiced much with because of that.”

Despite jumping out to an 11-point lead at halftime, the Bruins struggled from the field in stretches, shooting under 40 percent in the second half. Drexel capitalized and hung tough, drawing the game to a 65-63 tally with just 2:39 left in the game, when the clock stopped for the final media timeout.

Alford stressed to his team during the break that if the Bruins guarded for the final stretch, they would come out victorious. The No. 23 Bruins (1-0) made things interesting with a Parker inbound turnover with less than a minute left to play and an off-target three-point attempt by freshman guard Bryce Alford to give Drexel (0-1) a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but more or less followed their coach’s instructions.

Led by Anderson – who finished with 12 points and a team-high 12 rebounds – at the point guard position, the Bruins defended well enough in that closing 2:39, outscoring the Dragons 7-4 to seal the win.

“I was just trying to keep our guys in it. Keep them calm, keep them composed and let them know that we’ve got to buckle down and win this game,” Anderson said.  “There’s going to be many moments like that later on in the season so it was good to experience one and get through one as a team today.”

In their first two exhibition games against Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State San Marcos, respectively, the Bruins executed in the face of two porous transition defenses, allowing for a bevy of easy finishes at the rim. The Dragons guarded their territory well on Friday night and forced UCLA to consistently run set plays in a half-court offense for the first time in the Bruins’ young season.

“We didn’t have a chance to get into transition like in the exhibition games. Both the exhibition games were pretty much straight transition,” David Wear said. “You could tell we were standing a bit, but again, it’s the first game. We’ll work that out over the next couple games and we’ll be ready to go.”

Thanks to an airballed shot from beyond the arc by Drexel junior guard Damion Lee with three seconds remaining, the Bruins escaped Pauley Pavilion Friday with a perfect record, at least for a game.

“I thought we battled and we gained some momentum and toughness,” Alford said. “You either win that opener or you lose that opener, and winning the opener feels a lot better than losing.”