So who’s this Brian Morrison guy? Before last night, I
thought he was merely part of a statistical anomaly or trivia lore.
Then he goes and shoots the lights out at Pauley, scoring 28 points
on an efficient 11-for-15 shooting and 6-for-8 three pointers.
During his collegiate career, Morrison has been a part of two of
the worst years ever by a traditional basketball powerhouse.
In 2001-02, he was on North Carolina when they went 8-20.
He then transferred to UCLA to witness the debacle that was the
10-19 season of 2002-03.
But Wednesday night was his moment to shine, scoring 20 points
in the second half to help the Bruins pull ahead and secure a
much-needed win against UC Riverside.
Whenever the Highlanders tried to get back in the game, Morrison
hit a clutch three-pointer.
During his hot streak, he continued to be a team player,
hustling on defense, passing the ball (he had two assists, which
may not sound like much, but when a player is as hot as he is, why
pass the ball?) and grabbing six rebounds in the second half (nine
overall).
“I had open shots and knocked them down,” Morrison
said. “I’m always confident. I think every shot I take
is going in.”
Last night, the shots did go in for Morrison, but it
hasn’t always been that way. He sat out all of last season
because of an unfair NCAA transfer eligibility rule and only
averaged 7.1 points per game at North Carolina the year before.
The game wasn’t all about Morrison, though. It takes a
team effort to help a hot scorer flourish, and it takes a good
coach to recognize when a player gets hot and order his teammates
to set screens and plays for him.
“Shooting is the easy part,” UCLA coach Ben Howland
said. “If you can’t shoot, you shouldn’t be
playing in Division I. Dijon (Thompson) and Josiah (Johnson) did a
good job of setting good picks. His teammates did a good job of
setting screens.”
Howland did give Morrison credit, and gave an alarming stat.
“He makes 50 percent of his 3’s in
practice.”
Wow. For the record, the leader in three-point percentage last
year was Pennsylvania’s Jeff Schiffner, shooting 49.3
percent.
With his 3-for-7 three-point performance in the season opener
against Vermont, Morrison has made 9-of-15 three pointers this
season, or 60 percent.
Do I expect Morrison to keep it up? Of course not.
But you never know. He didn’t start at North Carolina, but
is being given playing time at UCLA. Every college player should,
in theory, get better with more playing time.
He is much better now, playing aggressively on both sides of the
court.
And this performance came in a must-win game too.
Sure, you can tell me it was only against Riverside. But
Riverside played close games against two Pac-10 opponents, losing
to Arizona State only by seven despite leading at halftime, and
losing to Washington by 13, even though the Highlanders were ahead
with 14 minutes left in the game.
The Bruins were also missing Trevor Ariza and T.J. Cummings,
making these early season games even harder.
To have any hope at the postseason, the Bruins must win all of
the games that they should, including Vermont and Riverside.
Last year was a perfect example of what happens when you
don’t beat the teams you should.
Gilbert is hoping a Morrison question comes up in College
Bowl next quarter. E-mail him at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.