Normally known as mild-mannered with the media, senior guard Norman Powell seemed to hit a tipping point after UCLA men’s basketball’s 82-64 loss to Oregon Saturday.
Speaking with a quiet intensity, Powell called on his teammates to pick up their energy and “(fight) just as hard as me and (sophomore guard) Bryce (Alford), the leaders, are.”
It appears the Bruins listened.
After four matchups against ranked opponents ended in double-digit losses, UCLA broke through Thursday.
Facing the No. 11 team in the nation – a team it lost to, 71-39, just 25 days ago – UCLA battled back from an early deficit to topple Utah, 69-59.
UCLA’s start to the game was much the same as it was in its two losses last week, with the Bruins stumbling out of the gate to a 13-6 deficit and shooting just 3-11 in the opening minutes.
Then something clicked for UCLA, Powell’s words resonating.
“I think the guys took it to heart,” Powell said. “In the locker room, I wasn’t feeling it after the Oregon trip and we sat down as a team and worked it out and came out on the floor and competed.”
The Bruins hit six of their next seven shots to jump ahead to a 20-17 lead. The tenacity UCLA lacked on its road trip finally showed up.
And the Bruins didn’t stop fighting.
Utah shot 57.1 percent in the first half, but it wasn’t because of lazy UCLA defense. Instead, with junior center and defensive anchor Tony Parker returning from back spasms, the Bruins showed physicality and hustle on defense and forced the typically-careful Utes into 14 turnovers.
Bryce Alford attributed the Bruins’ strong defensive effort to just that: effort.
“That was our whole mentality all night tonight, just playing as hard as you can possibly play,” Bryce Alford said.
Keeping pace with Utah’s efficient offense, UCLA – despite being listed as 5.5-point underdogs before the game – took a 33-30 lead into halftime. From there, the UCLA defense tightened its vice grip on the Utes.
Utah missed its first seven shots of the second half and went scoreless for the first 7:20 of the second half, giving UCLA time to buffer its lead by another 12 points, going ahead 45-30.
“We were terrific to start the second half and I thought that was big to get a double figure lead about four minutes into the second half,” said coach Steve Alford.
Powell led the Bruins’ offensive attack slicing his way through a helpless Utes defense and seemingly scoring at will on his drives. He finished with 23 points on nine of 16 shooting.
Powell wasn’t alone in his efforts to score inside. With Parker back in the mix, UCLA returned to its inside-out focus that catalyzed the team’s three-game winning streak earlier this month, scoring 34 points in the paint.
UCLA built a lead as large as 15 in the second half, never allowing Utah to come closer than seven after that en route to the win – and with it, the embarrassment of the 32-point loss to the Utes earlier this month began to fade.
“When we were up there, they were attacking, attacking, attacking and we never fought back,” Powell said about UCLA’s blowout loss in Salt Lake City earlier this month. “In this game, we were fighting from the tip to the buzzer.”
After UCLA forced a turnover midway through the second half, Powell began pumping his fist at half-court, slapped a teammate on the backside, then hugged Parker after he scored on the other end. The frustration from Oregon was gone.
This was the type of game he was asking for.