Rematches normally offer a shot at redemption.
But as UCLA prepares for Thursday’s game against Utah, the Bruins just hope that they show up this time.
“We weren’t ready to play,” said sophomore guard Bryce Alford about the Bruins’ first meeting with the Utes. “We hung in for the first six to seven minutes but after that we couldn’t make anything and that affected our defense. We didn’t do a good job of fighting in that game.”
After getting pummeled in Salt Lake City, a game in which the Bruins scored a season-low 39 points, UCLA wearily trots back out onto the court for round two tonight against No. 11 Utah.
Following his team’s 32-point loss to the Utes, coach Steve Alford pointed to UCLA’s play on the defensive end as a bright spot during the Bruins’ then-five-game losing streak.
Since then, Utah (16-3, 6-1 Pac-12) has remained the Pac-12’s top defensive squad while UCLA’s (11-9, 3-4) evisceration at the hands of Oregon highlighted a number of concerns about the Bruins’ defense.
“(Oregon was) incredible on offense and we kind of made them seem that way,” said freshman center Thomas Welsh. “Our help defense is one thing that could’ve used some work in that game, just being able to help when there’s a breakdown and recovering after that.”
UCLA may be without much help in its second go-around with Utah as junior forward/center Tony Parker is still playing day to day with back spasms after missing the Bruins’ road trip to Oregon.
If Parker is unable to go, Welsh figures to get his third consecutive start in his place.
The Bruins can ill afford to be without Parker against the Utes, a team Steve Alford called the deepest in the conference, particularly in the frontcourt. Parker had success in the initial matchup between the two schools as he led all scorers with 12 points and was the only Bruin to shoot better than 50 percent.
No team in the Pac-12 has shot better than the Utes this season. Utah connects on 49.9 percent of its shots, due in part to its proclivity for sharing the basketball – the Utes average 15.2 assists per game – and create opportunities for easy baskets.
After Utah’s double-digit win over UCLA, Alford said 16 of the Utes’ 24 field goals came from either transition buckets or second-chance opportunities.
For the Bruins to take advantage of their own reprieve, Alford said they must figure out a way to take away high-percentage shots and limit Utah’s Delon Wright, a player capable of making it look easy.
Following an outstanding junior campaign, Wright has once again placed himself among the most versatile and dangerous weapons in college basketball. He enters Thursday’s contest averaging 14.6 points, 6.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals and one giant collective headache for opponents each game.
“He’s not something that you see very often,” Bryce Alford said. “He just does it all for his team, and he can beat you by scoring by getting on the glass. … It’s picking your poison with him and trying to limit him as much as you can.”
For a UCLA squad that figures to be quite constrained in its own right, that challenge is enormous. As is taking down Utah.