With the Bruins floundering midway through the second half
against Long Beach State, Dijon Thompson did something he might not
have a year ago.
He took over.
Demanding the ball on almost every possession, the senior
forward sparked a late UCLA charge leading the Bruins past Long
Beach State 75-62 Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
“It wasn’t a decision on our part to get him the
ball,” freshman guard Arron Afflalo said. “He’s a
senior. He’s our leader. He took it upon himself to demand
the ball.”
The wrap on Thompson has always been that he is too passive at
crucial points in the game, but Tuesday night the Redondo Beach
native showed that he can be assertive if he needs to be. Using
every inch of his 6-foot-9, 209-pound frame, Thompson repeatedly
positioned himself on the low block, utilizing an array of post
moves to stave off the scrappy 49ers (1-3). Thompson scored a
team-high 25 points, one short of his career high, and made 11 of
12 free throws ensuring that the Bruins (4-0) preserved their
unblemished record heading into the toughest stretch of their
non-conference schedule.
“He’s the senior and he has the experience,”
freshman point guard Jordan Farmar said. “When he’s got
that look in his eye, I’m going to give the ball to
him.”
The Bruins desperately needed Thompson to step up after
frittering away all of a 15-point halftime lead. UCLA seemed to
come unglued early in the second half, turning the ball over and
surrendering offensive rebounds at an alarming rate.
Utilizing a frenetic man-to-man defense, Long Beach State forced
18 UCLA turnovers and out-rebounded the Bruins 32-26.
“We are a very young team,” UCLA coach Ben Howland
said. “We got sped up, made some errors, and turned the ball
over a few too many times.”
Long Beach State actually took a 51-48 lead midway through the
second half, and appeared to be on its way to pulling the upset.
But just when it seemed that the Bruins might not be able to regain
any sort of rhythm on offense, Thompson wrested control of the game
away from the 49ers.
Playing at the power forward position in a three-guard lineup,
Thompson scored a bucket down low to break a tie at 51. Moments
later he converted another basket in the paint, and drained a pair
of free throws that gave UCLA the lead for good.
Eight of Thompson’s points came during an 18-3 Bruin run
that left UCLA with a 73-58 lead with just over three minutes left
in the game.
“He did a good job of getting to the line,” Howland
said. “When we played small, he got some very easy
looks.”
Thompson had some help from his teammates, particularly Afflalo,
who scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-7 shooting. The Bruins
got to the foul line 31 times, converting 25 of their attempts.
Howland said UCLA did a much better job of defending off the
dribble, limiting the number of easy shots that the 49ers were able
to convert. Long Beach State often took contested 3-pointers, going
1-for-17 from behind the arc.
Afflalo and Thompson combined for five of UCLA’s seven
steals as the Bruins forced 19 turnovers on the night.
“We did a much better job on our perimeter defense,”
Howland said.
Now that the soft portion of their non-conference schedule is
out of the way, the Bruins have to raise their level of play
another notch. And teammates are looking to Thompson to lead
them.
“He has no choice,” Afflalo said. “He’s
going to lead us in scoring and rebounding most nights. He has to
be a leader. I have no problem saying that because I know he agrees
with me.”