Some might attribute it to a lack of focus.
Others will say that the intensity simply isn’t there.
But whatever the reason, it’s a habit that could be
considered somewhat distressing.
For the second straight game, No. 19 UCLA (22-6, 12-4 Pac-10)
needed a monster second half to defeat an inferior opponent. The
Bruins outscored Oregon (13-16, 7-10) by 22 points in
Sunday’s second half en route to a 70-53 victory.
UCLA used a similar second-half surge to beat Oregon State this
past Thursday.
“Getting behind teams early and trying to have a huge
second half is not something we want to make a tradition,”
sophomore guard Arron Afflalo said. “We have to play for 40
minutes total.”
UCLA’s first-half effort Sunday can be characterized as
lackluster at best. The offense was once again stagnant, the
defensive intensity was once again lacking, and the result was once
again a halftime deficit.
Sunday’s 28-23 deficit marked the fourth consecutive game
in which the Bruins have trailed at the interval.
“In the locker room at halftime, we kind of look at each
other and find a way to get it going,” sophomore point guard
Jordan Farmar said. “We want to be able to do that before the
game.”
True to the Bruins’ season-long pattern, their second-half
surge began on the defensive end of the floor.
After taking only one shot the entire first half, Afflalo scored
UCLA’s first points of the second half on a transition layup.
The defense stepped up, the offense got going, and 10 minutes later
UCLA was looking at a comfortable 46-34 lead following a 21-4
run.
The Oregon Ducks, who shot 29.6 percent from the field in the
second half, never got closer than nine points the rest of the way
and they were forced to get out of their matchup zone that had
given the Bruins offensive fits in the first half.
“That’s two great second halves in a row now,”
coach Ben Howland said. “The defense, like with any good
team, keys your ability to get out and really push the
ball.”
One can’t blame Howland for wanting to look at the
positives.
After nine first-half turnovers, UCLA has only turned it over
twice after halftime. The Bruins shot 62.5 percent from the field
in the second half, and they once again won the rebounding battle
(31-26).
Just like in the meeting in Eugene, freshman forward Luc Richard
Mbah a Moute once again proved himself a duck killer. Mbah a Moute
had 14 points and 10 rebounds Sunday for his seventh double-double
of the season. He had 14 points and four rebounds in UCLA’s
56-49 victory over the Ducks on Jan. 26.
“I don’t know what it is,” Mbah a Moute said
with a laugh. “There’s something about Oregon that I
like.”
And there’s something about the second half that the
Bruins seem to like.
It’s much different from earlier in the season, when UCLA
was racing out of the gates to huge leads. While the Bruins have
held a double-digit halftime lead on nine separate occasions this
season, they’ve trailed in each of the last four.
What’s worse, two of those games ended in losses.
“I think it’s a sense of urgency,” Farmar
said. “That’s where it starts and ends.”
Now UCLA will return to the drawing board. They’ve said
time and again that they are capable of beating almost anyone and
also capable of losing to almost anyone. The last two second halves
have proven the former, the last two first halves the latter.
“We’re showing fight right now,” Afflalo said.
“We’re learning lessons and winning, as opposed to
learning hard lessons.”
And if the Bruins can put those lessons into practice for an
entire 40 minutes, watch out.
“If this team plays its very best, this team will be very
hard to beat on a given night,” Howland said.