UCLA men’s basketball boasts the second-lowest turnover average in the Pac-12 this season, but that was not evident in the team’s last meeting with Oregon on Jan. 30.
In that game, the Bruins deviated from their typical ball security, turning the ball over 16 times, more than five times their season average of 10.67. Much of the blame fell on the shoulders of sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson, who committed nine turnovers.
“I think at first their defense kind of threw me off, forced me to turn the ball over a lot,” Anderson said. “Granted I also had 10 assists, so hopefully we can keep that part going and cut down on the turnovers.”
Fixing those turnover problems against an Oregon team that forces the second-most turnovers in the Pac-12, behind UCLA, will be the key for the Bruins to have offensive success on Thursday.
But doing so will be a challenge. Oregon also ranks second in the Pac-12 with 8.2 steals per game, and its use of press defense, which it could implement again Thursday, gave UCLA trouble in their previous matchup.
But the Bruins’ versatility could help them.
“We have multiple guys who can bring the ball up and we’re gonna need that against an Oregon team that likes to pressure. They tried getting into us a little bit up in Eugene, so we’re expecting a little bit of the same,” said coach Steve Alford.
Alford cited his team’s four-guard lineup, which features freshman guard Bryce Alford at the point and Anderson at power forward. The lineup has worked well for the Bruins and could help beat the Ducks’ press.
“When both of them are in the … game at the same time, we’ve got a lot of versatility on who can bring the ball up,” Steve Alford said.
Beyond just getting the ball past half-court, Anderson said the lineup also helps the offense in that it allows him to work from a different area of the court than when he is playing point guard.
“I think that’s where we get cracks at defenses,” Anderson said. “Just constant movement getting the ball in the high post and just making decisions from there.”
Getting LaVine going
After a blistering beginning to the season, freshman guard Zach LaVine has hit a roadblock in recent weeks.
But his streak of seven straight single-digit scoring performances came to an end with a 14-point outburst against Stanford on Saturday. Ten of LaVine’s points came in the final six minutes of the game.
“He had that aggressive mentality again, and he started taking good shots,” Alford said. “That’s the thing with Zach: he’s constantly learning. He’s young, so he’s learning what this level is all about, but he’s somebody that can create his shot just about at any time in the game. But it’s about creating a high-percentage shot. … I think he’s learning more on how good he can be.”
UCLA has four regular season games remaining, so as the team gears up for the final stretch, starting Thursday against Oregon, it needs all its pieces to start coming together. Sophomore guard Jordan Adams said adding LaVine’s early-season scoring prowess to the team could now play a factor as the postseason approaches.
“We need him to go far. … If he gets his confidence back, which I don’t know if he does or not, but hopefully he does and I think he’ll be very helpful to us,” Adams said.