The UCLA basketball team didn’t play like the No. 1 team
in the nation in the first half against Long Beach State.
A halftime chat with coach Ben Howland proved to make all of the
difference in the second half.
The Bruins (5-0) came out of the locker room looking like a new
team, cruising to an 88-58 victory over the helpless 49ers (2-3)
after leading by just five points at halftime.
“(Howland) was mad, quite frankly,” junior guard
Arron Afflalo said. “It was just strictly about our effort.
We came out as if that team wasn’t going to come after
us.”
While the second half was all UCLA, the first half was pretty
ugly for the Bruins.
The Bruins gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first half and
were outrebounded 25-14.
Long Beach State senior forward Sterling Byrd had 10 rebounds
before halftime.
On offense, the Bruins were hitting their 3-pointers. Sophomore
guard Michael Roll carried over his hot shooting from Maui, scoring
eight first-half points and hitting two out of his three 3-point
attempts.
Josh Shipp made 4-6 from behind the arc and finished the first
half with 14 points. Shipp’s three with 5:44 remaining in the
second half gave the Bruins a 34-20 lead.
But the 49ers quickly responded with a 14-2 run, cutting the
Bruin lead to just two points and trailed 41-36 at halftime.
The Bruins also missed a lot of easy layups in the first half
and their big men weren’t able to get very many second
chances.
Junior center Lorenzo Mata, who got into early foul trouble, and
sophomore forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute combined for just one
point and four rebounds in the first half.
Mbah a Moute in particular was not his usual active self in the
first half, scoring no points and pulling down just one rebound in
his 16 minutes on the floor.
“We played tired,” Howland said about UCLA’s
first-half performance. “(The Maui Invitational) is one of
the hardest tournaments ever ““ not only are you on the road,
but you’re over there for a week. I think we were still
showing some of the effects of that tonight.
“We were too anxious to get out and run, and not doing a
good job on the defensive glass.”
But in the second half, the Bruins’ rebounding and overall
defense picked up while the shooting remained hot.
Shipp added 10 more points in the second half, finishing the
game with a career-high 24 points. He finished the game shooting
6-9 from 3-point range and had seven rebounds and five assists.
Sophomore point guard Darren Collison, meanwhile, dominated his
counterpart point guard, Kevin Houston. Collison had a career-high
nine steals, many of which were at the expense of Houston, who
finished the game with eight turnovers. Collison flirted with
former UCLA legend Tyus Edney’s record of 11 steals in a
game.
“That’s crazy,” Shipp said after the game.
“It’s great for us if he can do that.”
Russell Westbrook gave the Bruins another big spark off the
bench in the second half.
The freshman point guard made all three of his 3-point attempts,
which were all wide open looks in front of the UCLA bench.
Westbrook finished with a career-high 11 points in just 11
minutes.
On the boards, the Bruins were much better in the second half.
UCLA recovered to outrebound the 49ers 24-20 after halftime.
Mbah a Moute, after a quiet first half, recovered to have seven
points and 10 rebounds in the second half.
UCLA was also able to win the turnover battle yet again. The
Bruins forced 23 turnovers while turning the ball over just 10
times.
“The best thing that we’re doing right now
offensively is taking care of the basketball,” Howland said.
“We’re averaging around 10-12 turnovers and
that’s very, very important.”
DRIBBLERS: The Bruins now lead the all-time
series with the 49ers 11-0 … The last time Long Beach State beat
a ranked opponent was 1994 … Tuesday’s attendance was
8,428.