UCLA gets gutsy in Oregon

I’m almost never surprised when the Bruins win ““ they have the talent, coaching and defense to beat anyone in the country, and winning is expected.

But I definitely did not see this one coming.

The top spot in the conference was on the line at Mac Court ““ one of the toughest places to play in the country. UCLA’s reputation as one of the nation’s best teams was going to be challenged. A talented Oregon team lay in waiting. And on top of that, some of the Bruins’ key players ““ Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real ““ were both out with concussions.

Needless to say, the ramifications were big.

A win would reestablish UCLA as the team to beat in the west and propel the Bruins back into the top five in the country. However, a loss would have dropped the Bruins back down into the realm of beatability with a 4-2 conference record.

Simply put: The odds were not in the Bruins’ favor. But on Thursday, the odds didn’t matter.

UCLA came to play.

Led by a monster performance by Kevin Love, a career game from Darren Collison and key contributions from just about everybody else, the Bruins pulled off an improbable and impressive 80-75 win.

With Mbah a Moute (the Bruins’ most versatile defender) and Mata-Real (their toughest post presence) sorely missed in the paint, this game was going to be decided by the play of Love. If he had played a subpar game, the Bruins would’ve gotten smoked. Fortunately, he played the game of his life.

With the angry crowd chanting at him for choosing to play at UCLA over Oregon, he shut them up big time. Without reacting to the catcalls or flipping a few birds, as most people would have done, he posted a career game. He was an absolute beast down low with 26 points and 18 rebounds, taking over the game for the Bruins.

Simply put: He dominated.

However, nothing was easy Thursday night in The Pit.

In addition to UCLA’s injuries, which presented serious problems in how to guard the Ducks, the referees made it even tougher. They called fouls on the Bruins like they were getting paid on commission. With about 15 minutes left in the ballgame, the only two available post players besides Love with any experience ““ Alfred Aboya and James Keefe ““ both had four fouls. That was more than the Ducks’ entire team at that point.

To say the Bruins were short-handed would be like saying van Gogh had a hearing problem.

But when the situation looked the worst, that’s when the Bruins showed their gutsy side.

Collison kept driving into the lane with determination, hitting floaters to keep UCLA close. He would end the game with a career-high 22 points. Russell Westbrook sparked the transition game with steals, and Love just kept playing angry. Even Nikola Dragovic got into the act, hitting a huge 3-pointer and playing some well-timed defense.

All in all, it was a win that proved one thing to everyone who watched: These Bruins have some serious cojones.

E-mail Feder at jfeder@media.ucla.edu if you threw your chicken dinner at the TV after Aboya’s fourth “foul.”

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