BERKELEY “”mdash; This was Ben Howland’s kind of
victory.
From the season’s first practice in October until
UCLA’s final pre-game meeting on Thursday, the Bruin coach
has stressed the importance of playing solid defense, and his
players responded at the most crucial time.
Motivated by the memory of last month’s galling loss to
Cal in Los Angeles, UCLA got some revenge, taking an early lead and
never relinquishing it in a 77-62 victory over the Bears Thursday
night at Haas Pavilion.
“Our defense set the tone,” Howland said.
“(Cal) shot 36 percent from the field. That’s what I
like. That’s good defense. That’s how to get a
win.”
Howland called Cal’s victory at Pauley Pavilion
UCLA’s worst loss of the season earlier this week, and the
Bruin players seemed to take that to heart, building a double-digit
first-half lead.
Josh Shipp choked off the passing lanes. Michael Fey stood his
ground down low. Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar hounded
Cal’s guards on the perimeter. And senior Dijon Thompson
provided the offense, tallying a game-high 23 points as UCLA (14-8,
8-6 Pac-10) coasted to its first victory in Berkeley in five
years.
“It was definitely a makeup game,” Thompson said.
“We knew we had to take care of business and try to get that
win back from them that they got from us.
“Coach stressed defense all week. Overall, it was one of
the best defensive games we’ve had all year.”
And one of UCLA’s most important victories. The Bruins,
who stayed one half-game behind third-place Stanford in the Pac-10
standings, remain in good position to make a run at the
program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2001-02
season.
“We’re striving not to lose any more Pac-10 games
this season, so our intensity has picked up,” freshman Arron
Afflalo said. “We’ve had to dig a little deeper and
find it in ourselves to play tough defense.”
That much was clear from the opening tip-off Thursday night as
UCLA built a 35-20 first-half lead with inspired defense, doubling
center David Paris in the post, stalking the passing lanes, and
daring the Bears (12-11, 5-8) to beat them from the perimeter.
The strategy was effective. Cal’s starting guards, Richard
Midgley and Ayinde Ubaka, missed 15 of their 18 attempts from the
field, as the Bears shot 11-for-36 before halftime and had scored
only 37 points with 12 minutes remaining.
The 6-foot-8 Paris, who posted 18 points in the team’s
first meeting, scored only six Thursday night as reserve forward
Marquise Kately led the Bears with 14 points.
“Watching the film, our defensive effort was terrible at
home,” Fey said. “We really stressed that in practice,
and made that our strong point tonight.”
Once the lead ballooned to 20 points midway through the second
half, UCLA’s defense did loosen some. Buoyed by offensive
rebounding and a flurry of transition baskets, Cal cut the Bruin
lead to 60-49, but could never get any closer.
UCLA held the Bears scoreless for three minutes, forcing two
turnovers and a handful of errant jumpers and reeling off a 9-0 run
to put the game away.
The victory gives the Bruins momentum heading into
Sunday’s crucial matchup with Stanford, and erases any
possibility of a repeat of last year’s late-season slide.
“About five games ago, we had some questions about whether
it was going to be like last year,” Howland said. “No
it’s not. These guys are doing a great job, and I
couldn’t be prouder.”