SOUTH BEND, Ind. “”mdash; Unable to elevate for a jumper or even
cut to the basket on his sprained right ankle before the game on
Sunday, UCLA’s Josh Shipp didn’t expect to make much of
an impact against Notre Dame. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he
could play. Yet, Shipp, who didn’t practice Friday or
Saturday and arrived at Joyce Center wearing a protective boot on
his right foot, surprised himself, playing 32 minutes and helping
the Bruins to an important victory. “I just fought through
the pain,” Shipp said. “We were playing so well and I
was having so much fun out there that sometimes I didn’t
notice it as much.” Shipp, a freshman, has been unable to
walk without a limp since injuring the ankle going up for a rebound
Thursday night against USC. He’s kept ice on it as much as
possible to reduce the swelling, and trainers gave him pain-killers
prior to Sunday’s game. “He really gutted it up for his
team,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I’m proud of
him.” Though Shipp scored only six points, his two 3-pointers
helped the Bruins maintain a double-digit lead. The Los Angeles
native also pulled down six rebounds, made two assists and helped
limit Notre Dame’s starting guards to a 12-for-41 shooting
for the game. “He played like a warrior today,” senior
Dijon Thompson said. Said freshman Jordan Farmar, “I’ve
known him for a while, and I know what he’s capable of, so
it’s not a surprise.”
MIND GAMES: Given the task of checking Chris Thomas, one of the
nation’s better point guards, UCLA’s Arron Afflalo
refused to let the Notre Dame senior get the best of him. In fact,
it was Afflalo who was the aggressor in the match-up, forcing
Thomas into tough shots and jabbering at him after almost every one
of his misses. At one point early in the first half, referees had
to separate the two guards after Thomas gave Afflalo a little shove
underneath the basket. “I was trying to get into him mentally
a little bit,” Afflalo said. “You want the opposing
team’s best player to start worrying about the individual in
front of him instead of worrying about running the team.”
“I heard him talking to the refs a couple times tonight, and
that really lets me know that I’m getting to him.” The
plan worked. Thomas, who came into the game averaging 14.3 points,
scored only 10 points on Sunday, missing 13 of his 17 shots and
committing three turnovers.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Upon reading in the local newspapers that Notre
Dame planned to emphasize getting the ball to Torin Francis on the
low block, Howland decided to make sure the junior center
wasn’t a factor. The Bruins took the Fighting Irish by
surprise, double-teaming Francis on almost every possession even
though he came into Sunday’s game as only Notre Dame’s
fourth-leading scorer. Francis still equaled his average, scoring
10 points on 5-for-7 shooting, but Howland was pleased that UCLA
kept him in check. “It was something they didn’t
expect,” Howland said. “It helped us be the aggressors,
which is how we want to be on the road.”
DRIBBLERS: The Bruins won two games in a row for the first time
since they beat USC and Washington State on Jan. 29 and Feb. 3
respectively. … Howland said that he was unsure whether the
UCLA-Notre Dame rivalry, a fixture in the 1970s, ’80s and
early ’90s, would continue next season. … Lorenzo Mata, who
suffered a fractured sternum earlier this month, was available to
play, but Howland decided not to use him for the second consecutive
game. … Thompson’s double-double was his seventh of the
season. … UCLA is now 4-6 in non-conference road games during
Pac-10 play since winning the national championship in 1995. …
UCLA shot just 13 of 22 from the charity stripe.