With their coach recovering from hernia surgery, their senior guard battling an array of injuries and their junior forward/center suffering from perhaps a bruised ego, the Bruins served up the perfect remedy Wednesday night.
And like little else this season, they made it look easy.
Norman Powell and Tony Parker combined for 44 points as UCLA cruised past Washington 88-66 to keep pace in the race for the Pac-12 fourth seed.
Prior to tip-off, there were some concerns whether or not coach Steve Alford would be able to show up to Wednesday night’s game after undergoing hernia surgery Monday.
Alford made it to Pauley. The same could not be said for Washington.
The Bruins (17-12, 9-7 Pac-12) raced out to an early 13-2 lead less than three minutes into the game after making its first six shots against a Huskies (15-12, 4-11) squad that appeared largely uninterested in playing anything resembling defense.
UCLA made 17 of 21 shots inside the arc in the first half and hauled in seven offensive rebounds during the opening period as the Bruins controlled the paint, thanks largely to the efforts of Parker and Powell.
“That’s something that we always look for. Tony and (freshman forward) Kevon (Looney) cause a lot of mismatches in the post and a lot of teams aren’t able to handle that,” said Powell, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “We always try to go inside-out and tonight we were able to get whatever we wanted.”
After putting together a dreadful performance in the team’s trip to the Arizona schools, Parker dominated the Huskies and appeared a different player altogether.
With Washington forward Shawn Kemp, Jr. out of the lineup due to a concussion, Parker asserted himself early by making his first four shots of the night en route to scoring 20 points as UCLA outscored Washington 50-20 in the paint.
“That was big for me to hit those shots. I was killing (sophomore guard) Isaac (Hamilton) and Looney last night in one-on-one, so I think that helped,” Parker said. “It was big for me and for my confidence to play hard and play a big-time role to get this win. I knew if I played hard and came out strong, our team would win.”
Powell, meanwhile, led the charge for UCLA offensively by regularly attacking the lane – including an emphatic dunk off of an alley-oop from sophomore guard Bryce Alford midway through the first.
Together the pair had as many points as Washington in the first half as UCLA headed into the break with a 46-25 lead.
While UCLA’s offense met little resistance, its defense rendered Washington incapable of mounting a comeback bid.
After shooting just 29 percent in the opening half, the Huskies were even uglier to start the second.
With 14:35 left in the game, Washington had three made field goals and three turnovers in the second half – one of which was a steal by Hamilton, who proceeded to go coast-to-coast for a dunk that put UCLA ahead 51-27.
Hamilton put together his best game as a Bruin, finishing with 16 points, a career-high 10 assists, five rebounds and three steals as part of a complete team performance.
“He played under control and handled the ball well,” said coach Steve Alford. “When Isaac is playing that consistent it takes us to another level, and I thought our game today was to another level.”
It was an encouraging effort on both ends of the floor after UCLA shut down No. 7 Arizona’s starting five four days prior, but struggled on offense for large portions of the game.
The only thing that didn’t go UCLA’s way Wednesday night occurred more than 300 miles away as Oregon defeated Cal 80-69, all but ensuring that a No. 4 seed will be the Bruins’ best possible finish heading into the conference tournament.
But right now UCLA isn’t worried about the conference – or even NCAA tournament. Remaining home games against Washington State and USC come first. But after a performance like Wednesday night after all, there isn’t much to be too worried about.
“That’s what’s so great right now, we control our own destiny,” Powell said. “If we go into our next couple of games with the same sense of urgency we had today, we’re going to take care of things. It’s not going to be a problem.”