It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t impressive. It wasn’t near good enough for what UCLA will need later in the schedule. But it was over. And it was a win.
For the second consecutive game UCLA overcame an ugly first half, grinding out a 77-66 victory over UC Riverside.
Senior guard Norman Powell and junior forward/center Tony Parker led UCLA back from an eight-point halftime deficit, as the Bruins survived a supposedly lesser opponent for the second consecutive game.
“(We need to) respect every team. We did this a lot last year, come first half we’ll give teams life and come second half we’ll try and knock them out,” said Parker, who finished with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. “But with this team it kind of hurt us because our bench is not as strong, we have a really young bench, so our starting five really has to pick up the pace and bring the energy through us.”
In defeating the Highlanders (5-4), the Bruins (8-2) barely avoided beating themselves. They were callous and careless with the ball in the first half, committing eight turnovers. UCLA’s normally frenetic offense was lethargic, mustering just six assists, while UC Riverside grabbed eight offensive rebounds on the other end in the first 20 minutes. But worse than that for the Bruins, coach Steve Alford said his squad lacked toughness for the second straight game and trailed the Highlanders 36-28 at the break.
The one positive for UCLA in the first half turned out to be its saving grace in the contest, as the Bruins repeatedly attacked inside and got to the line to finally go up on the scoreboard. After outscoring UC Riverside 18-10 in the paint over the first 20 minutes, UCLA went right back inside in the second half.
Powell led the charge, netting an early three-pointer before adding a dunk, a layup, and an assist on sophomore guard Bryce Alford’s go-ahead three that gave UCLA a 42-41 lead, and its offense new life.
“Coach in the locker room was (asking) us ‘who is going to be the leader, who’s going to bring the energy?’ and that’s really my role as the senior on the team,” said Powell, who finished with a game-high 20 points. “And I wanted to provide a spark so I picked up my defense, picked up my offense. I did whatever it took. I was able to knock down the three, get a transition dunk, and that got our guys going in the second half.”
The Bruins didn’t trail for the rest of the game as the pressure inside paid immediate dividends for their outside game. UCLA connected on its first five three-pointers of the second period after shooting 1-7 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Meanwhile the Highlanders, who used a 7-17 effort from outside to build their halftime lead, were decidedly colder in the second half, shooting just 22.2 percent from deep. The Bruins outscored them 26-14 in the opening 10 minutes coming out of the break and outrebounded the Highlanders 40-33 for the game, led by Parker’s career-best effort.
“I thought Tony was really good tonight. That’s the Tony we’ve got to have,” Alford said. “16 (points) and 16 (rebounds), that’s an impressive double, it’s not just 10 and 10. Sixteen and 16 you’re putting some work in.”
What became apparent Wednesday was that UCLA still has plenty of work to do with No. 9 Gonzaga awaiting Saturday and No. 1 Kentucky a week later.
Though UCLA led the final 16 minutes of the second half, UC Riverside closed the deficit to as little as 59-57 with 6:10 to go, before the Bruins again used a combination of foul shooting and inside scoring to extend their lead to double digits.
“It’s big to have the two games against North Carolina and Oklahoma under our belt. It’s big to get those games early so we are prepared for a test like this,” said sophomore guard Bryce Alford. “This is a really important game for us. It’s time for us to start getting recognized nationally and we have to be ready for it. We have to be more ready than we were tonight.