UCLA’s early lead, rigid defense shuts down ‘SC

Like coach Ben Howland said about a hundred times last week, it all starts with defense.

And Wednesday night against the Trojans, the Bruins proved it.

UCLA posted its best defensive effort of the season en route to a 76-60 pasting of USC in one of their most dominant victories this season.

Starting early, the Bruins put the pedal to the floor on the defensive end, forcing 14 first-half turnovers.

“Our first half tonight was the best half we’ve had with maybe a possible comparison to when we played Michigan two years ago,” Howland said.

“The defense was just unbelievable tonight.”

The Bruins used the turnovers as an opportunity to push the tempo on offense and attack the basket, building a nine-point lead 10 minutes into the game.

They didn’t look back after that.

“As long as we continue to force turnovers and get out on the break, we’ll get a lot of easy opportunities,” senior guard Josh Shipp said.

That’s exactly what the Bruins did Wednesday night.

At halftime, the Trojans had more turnovers than made shots and had lost possession after possession to the stout Bruin defense.

The Bruins racked up 28 points off of a total of 23 USC turnovers, maintaining a 20-point lead for most of the second half.

For four stretches of at least two minutes in the first half, the UCLA defense held USC without a point.

The Bruins’ efficient transition game, aided by junior forward Nikola Dragovic’s key treys as the trailer, helped to post a 27-7 run over a 9:50 stretch late in the first half. Dragovic went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc before intermission.

Part of the reason for the Bruins’ success against the Trojans was their ability to make Trojan big man Taj Gibson a complete non-factor, as senior center Alfred Aboya shut him down for a second time.

Gibson struggled with a finger injury and was held to just two points and four rebounds in 26 minutes. His rebounding total tied his season low and his two points was 13 points below his season average.

“He’s a great player,” Aboya said. “Great players always rebound after poor performances. I think next game, he’s going to explode into the stat sheet.”

Aboya, who posted his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, continually frustrated Gibson throughout the night. The dominant ‘SC forward only attempted two shots.

“I got a really great feel for him from the first game and watching film,” Aboya said.

“All I did was deny and limit his touches. He didn’t catch a lot of balls in the post and he was forced to catch the ball outside the three. He’s not effective over there.”

BRUINS GET TO THE LINE: UCLA got to the free-throw line 31 times against USC, the most attempts they’ve had at the line in the conference season.

It was a sign of a more aggressive Bruin offense that has turned it on since their turning-point loss at Washington two weeks ago.

“We’re such a great shooting team so that creates a lot of opening in the lanes,” Aboya said.

Aboya also credited senior point guard Darren Collison’s defensive pressures that he applied sooner in possessions over the past three games as a spark for the transition offense.

DRIBBLERS: Football coach Rick Neuheisel, along with defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough and cornerbacks coach Carnell Lake, gave a short speech at halftime.

Wednesday was signing day for the football team and Bruin fans at the game seemed to know about UCLA’s No. 4-ranked recruiting class.

Percy Miller, formerly known as Lil’ Romeo, got into the game in garbage time and was guarded by Spencer Soo. He was greeted to the court by a “Bow Wow is Better” chant by the Den.

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