LAHAINA, Hawaii “”mdash; If any question remained whether UCLA
would be the same team as the one that made an appearance in the
Final Four last season, the Bruins gave a solid answer this week in
Maui. They might be better. The No. 5 Bruins steamrolled through
the competition, including No. 19 Georgia Tech 88-73 Wednesday
night, on the way to winning the EA Sports Maui Invitational in the
Lahaina Civic Center. The Yellow Jackets (4-1) were supposed to be
the test that UCLA (4-0) had not received yet this season, but the
Bruins took it to Georgia Tech early and made it clear this would
be a Bruin coronation rather than a competitive championship game.
“This was a super-gratifying win,” coach Ben Howland
said. “I was very impressed watching Georgia Tech the last
two days, and we beat them pretty soundly.” Unlike the last
two nights, it took the Bruins a while to get things going on
Wednesday. The Bruins trailed 10-7, but then used a 26-10 run to
establish a 33-20 lead and never looked back. The catalyst for
their first-half run was junior guard Mike Roll, who scored 13
first-half points and was 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. “I was
very happy with our bench players today,” Howland said.
“Particularly, Michael Roll. He hit some big threes for
us.” Behind Roll’s superior outside shooting, the
Bruins were able to frustrate a talented Georgia Tech team that had
dominated highly touted teams in Purdue and Memphis for the last
two nights. The Bruins commanded the post and were able to
out-rebound the Yellow Jackets after giving a few too many
offensive rebounds at the beginning of the game. “We gave up
only 13 offensive rebounds,” Howland said sarcastically.
“After the way they out-rebounded everyone in this
tournament, I was happy with our effort.” With their
performance, the Bruins showed they will be a team to be reckoned
with throughout the season. The Bruins finished with four players
in double figures and received consistent efforts from unsung
players such as point guard Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a
Moute and Alfred Aboya. Mbah a Moute scored 14 points on 7-for-7
shooting, while Collison (15 points) was named tournament MVP in
his first road environment since being named the Bruins’
starting point guard. “It was a team effort,” Howland
said. “Any one of our players could have been named MVP. Luc,
Darren or Arron (Afflalo). We did it as a team tonight.” The
Bruins are now 4-0 for only the second time in 12 years and 2-0
against ranked teams after going only 2-5 against ranked teams in
the regular season last year. The progression the Bruins have made
since Howland’s first season is remarkable, and the Maui
Invitational was a great indication of how far they have come.
“I am the same coach I was four years ago,” Howland
said. “The difference now is our personnel. These guys are
some great players.” The Bruins now have seven games before
they open the Pac-10 season, but the Maui Invitational showed early
where the Bruins can be expected to finish. Afflalo, who finished
with a team-high 15 points and was named to the All-Tournament
Team, proved he is still the Bruins’ go-to guy, and Lorenzo
Mata, who nearly had his second double-double in as many days,
showed that he can be the Bruins’ full-time center.
“Our team has such great chemistry on and off the
court,” Afflalo said. “It doesn’t matter who is
the leading scorer, because we have so many players that excel in
all aspects of the game.” Having accomplished their goal of
winning the Maui Invitational, the Bruins plan to shift gears for
the next few days. “We are going to take the next two days
off and enjoy our Hawaiian vacation,” Howland said. “We
deserve it.”
EXTRA POINTS: Afflalo was the
tournament’s second-leading scorer at 19.3 points per game.
Mata led the tournament with an average of 9 rebounds per game, and
Collison was second in the tournament with an average of 7 assists.
Lewis Clinch of Georgia Tech and Carl Landry of Purdue were the
other members of the All-Tournament team.