With a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament all but sewn up, UCLA added another line to its resume with a 57-54 victory over USC in the second round of the Pac-10 Tournament on Friday.
But that perhaps unnecessary victory came with an unexpected cost.
Late in the first half, power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute went down with a sprain to the same left ankle he sprained earlier this year against Arizona.
Though the severity of the sprain is not yet known, coach Ben Howland said Mbah a Moute would not play today in the championship game.
“He will not play (today), that’s for certain,” Howland said. “He’s going to do everything he can (to be ready) for one of those games we play next week.”
Mbah a Moute’s injury overshadowed what was a highly competitive game.
In the first half, USC carved up UCLA’s defense, scoring 14 of its first 17 points on layups or dunks.
On the defensive end, the return of guard Daniel Hackett ““ who sat out UCLA’s last matchup with USC due to injury ““ reinvigorated the USC defense. UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who played an unusual amount of time at point guard in the first half, seemed stymied at times by the Trojans’ triangle-and-two defense, scoring just six points on 2-of-9 shooting in the first half. After Mbah a Moute’s injury, the Trojans headed into the locker room with a 34-28 lead and the game seemingly under control, both on offense and defense.
And then, just like that, it wasn’t.
UCLA scored 12 unanswered points in a three-and-a-half minute blitz to open the second half and take a 40-34 lead. The Bruins adjusted their offensive game plan, which gave them more penetration opportunities against the Trojans’ zone. Kevin Love was the main beneficiary, flushing a dunk and finishing two consecutive 3-point plays off of layups. Love capped off his flurry with a 3-point shot that gave him 11 consecutive points.
“We knew we had to rally,” Love said. “We just picked it up and had that 12-0 run.”
Howland declined to comment about the halftime adjustment made on offense, advising media members who wanted to know to watch the film themselves.
Even with UCLA wresting control of the game on both ends of the floor, USC still had one surge left. Trojan guard O.J. Mayo fueled a comeback that left his team down three points with just 20 seconds to go. But the freshman drew back iron on a highly contested 3-point shot over UCLA’s Josh Shipp, and the Trojans could not get another shot off before time expired.
USC coach Tim Floyd indicated in the postgame press conference that Mayo’s 3-point attempt was not the play that he had called.
Shipp was surprised that Mayo let the clock tick down to the waning moments of the game before attempting his shot.
“Yeah, (I’m) definitely surprised (he took so long to take that last shot),” Shipp said. “I mean, if he missed that shot, he doesn’t have enough time to take another one.”
KEEFE IN: Sophomore power forward James Keefe, who has played sparingly this season in a backup role after starting the year injured, was thrust into duty following Mbah a Moute’s injury and, according to Howland, played well given the opportunity.
“James Keefe’s minutes in the second half for us were huge,” Howland said. “I decided to start him (in the second half) because of how we were attacking the triangle better (with him on the floor).”
Keefe finished with zero points, but he had four rebounds and two blocks in 23 minutes.