As UCLA men’s basketball heads into its second matchup against Colorado Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion, it faces the same team it saw a month ago but with a very different storyline.
In their first meeting on Jan. 16, the then-No. 21 Buffs appeared to be reeling, their high hopes for the season seemingly dashed by a season-ending injury to their star guard, junior Spencer Dinwiddie. But nearly a month later, Colorado’s season is anything but in disarray.
The team comes to Pauley Pavilion the winner of three straight games and just a half game behind UCLA for second place in the Pac-12. UCLA coach Steve Alford credited Colorado coach Tad Boyle as well as improved play from the Buffs’ other players for the team managing to stay afloat despite losing a key player.
“They’ve done a really good job of just manning up and asking more of themselves and that’s not an easy thing to do, especially in a league like this this year, where the league is up,” Alford said. “So I just think their staff and their players have done a really good job of not just keeping things status quo, but actually moving things forward.”
One such player the Bruins will have to deal with is sophomore forward Xavier Johnson, who has stepped up to fill the void, particularly in the Buffs (18-6, 7-4 Pac-12) last two games. In wins over Washington State and Washington, he had 20 points and nine rebounds, and 27 points and 10 rebounds, respectively.
“You just got a very good player who’s very confident right now,” said Alford, who also identified Colorado’s junior guard Askia Booker and sophomore forward Josh Scott as players capable of giving UCLA’s defense problems on Thursday.
But the Bruins’ defense has a formula for success in defending the Buffs. All they have to do is look at the last time the two teams met.
In their previous matchup, a 69-56 UCLA victory, the Bruins (18-5, 7-3) defense stepped up, holding the Buffs to 40 percent shooting, but their offense took a step back. UCLA shot 39.4 percent, and just 24 percent from beyond the arc, as the high altitude led to offensive struggles.
Now, as the Bruins try to move forward from a poor offensive first half against USC which the team blamed on energy – an issue that also plagued them in their last loss to Oregon State – they will be focused on coming out with early aggression on offense. The key to doing so, said sophomore guard Jordan Adams, is just that – focus.
“You just gotta be mentally focused in warmups and just in tune to the game,” Adams said.
Adams and junior guard Norman Powell both looked focused and aggressive throughout the second half against USC Saturday, combining for 24 second-half points, 17 of which came from Powell.
Powell, whose 21 points led the way for UCLA on Saturday, has been a consistent scoring option all year, and his ability to get to the basket has helped the Bruins in recent games.
“I just play within the offense and my game and do the job that needs to be done. I don’t really focus on offense that much. I know that’s gonna come from the flow of the game,” Powell said. “I just try to play hard and play great defense and give my team opportunities to score and win.”
Getting that opportunity and converting on it will be crucial for UCLA as its tenuous hold on the second place spot will be in jeopardy with Colorado sitting just a half-game back. But the Bruins are well aware of the game’s implications.
“It’s a team that’s a half game behind us overall and in the league so this is two really good RPI teams … so it’s a great matchup and it’s like anytime in this league when you’re this time of year, you gotta play well and we’re gonna have to play well,” Alford said.