EUGENE, Ore. — UCLA men’s basketball did what it always does after Wednesday night’s game – the Bruins boarded the team bus. Instead of heading toward an airport or back to Westwood, however, the team rolled onward to Eugene the next stop on its five-day road trip.
Rather than playing a back-to-back or having a one-day turnaround, the Bruins have two full days of practice before facing the Oregon Ducks Saturday. Whether this turns out to be a blessing – allowing UCLA to further fine-tune those defensive weaknesses – or a curse – providing too much time between road games – remains to be seen.
The Bruins rode the momentum of a dominant 82-73 win over the Oregon State Beavers all the way to Eugene, but the question lies in whether that energy and intensity can survive this two-day lull.
“Our intensity on the defensive side was huge for us (against Oregon State). That’s really something that we’ve been lacking so far in Pac-12, and I think we really brought it defensively,” said sophomore center Thomas Welsh. “I think that was huge for us. We definitely want to continue that on Saturday against Oregon.”
READ MORE: The extra incentive behind UCLA’s victory at Oregon State.
UCLA’s improved performance came one week after the team allowed USC to score 89 points in Pauley Pavilion to rout the Bruins by 14 points. The team at that point was giving up an average of 84 points to conference opponents – a statistic the team took very seriously.
“It was just tough. I know our goal is 65 and fewer. And we’re giving about 20-plus points more than that,” said junior guard Isaac Hamilton. “I think if we keep teams in that 65 and fewer (range), I think we have a good chance of winning.”
Following two days of punishing practices and two days off, UCLA hit the road to Corvallis where the team limited Oregon State much more effectively. The Beavers average 71.9 points a game and scored 73, but 17 of those came in the last four minutes – so-called “garbage time.” Comparatively, the Bruins lit up Gill Coliseum for 83 points, where opponents typically average 67.6 points.
“We would have held (Oregon State) in the 50s if not for the last four minutes, when we gave them easy buckets (while) protecting the lead,” said coach Steve Alford. “So they really responded defensively.”
That defensive response will need to travel well over the coming days if UCLA wants to stabilize its conference record. Wednesday night’s victory was the team’s first road win of the Pac-12 season after the Bruins went 0-2 in Washington to start conference play. Aside from a solid Arizona series, UCLA has yet to prove it can compete in this league.