BERKELEY “”mdash; There had been a certain formula to UCLA games in the early part of the season. Coach Ben Howland’s team would give up an early lead, only to storm back and win in convincing fashion.
When forward Josh Shipp’s 3-point play gave UCLA a 13-2 lead over California three and a half minutes into the game, it was clear that there was a new formula.
“It’s definitely big for us,” Shipp said. “Lately we haven’t been starting off that great, so it was good for us to get out and control the game from the get go and never look back.”
The strong start to the game comes on the heels of a big road win at Stanford, where Shipp had an emphatic 21 points. After the game, Howland noted that he had never seen Shipp so prepared to play and used him as an example to the team.
“I think coach Howland talked about the look in Josh’s eye last game,” center Kevin Love said. “We kind of took notice of that and came out just firing. We came out playing well. We were just warmed up for the game. There was great intensity the whole time.”
The team’s increase in intensity comes at the right time, with the Bruins getting a valuable road sweep to start the Pac-10 season.
“We know we’ve got to turn our game up another notch,” guard Russell Westbrook said. “It’s the Pac-10. And I think we’ve done that the last two games.”
The Bruins were in new territory Saturday, going into halftime with an 11-point lead instead of trailing or holding onto a one-point lead as they did Thursday against Stanford.
For the players, they know that getting those kind of starts plays right into the strength of their team that gets better as the game goes on.
“If we get these kind of starts, it’s going to make things a lot easier for us,” guard Darren Collison said. “We understand that we’re a second-half team, but the most important part for us is just coming out with a good start like we did today.”
SHIPP TO 1,000: Shipp’s final points of the night came on a jumper late in the second half, giving him 13 points on the night and exactly 1,000 career points at UCLA.
The junior out of Fairfax High School has had a lot to overcome in his career at UCLA, missing a substantial amount of time due to a hip injury. The junior reached the scoring plateau despite playing only four games in the 2005-2006 season.
So far this season Shipp has emerged as a leader on the offensive end as one of the Bruins’ prime targets. Going into the Cal game he led the team in 3-point field goals with 36, the closest players behind him being Collison and Westbrook, tied with 11.
DRIBBLERS: The sell-out crowd on hand to see Saturday’s game included a few faces familiar to Howland and UCLA. Howland’s mother was in attendance, as well as Baron Davis, a former UCLA great and current NBA player with the Golden State Warriors. Davis sat behind the UCLA bench in the first half and courtside for the second half, sporting a sweater, tie, sneakers and a beanie.
After the game Davis went into the UCLA locker room to congratulate the team on the win.
At the end of UCLA’s day-off training, Howland challenged his players to hit a half court shot in order to end the practice. Love responded by hitting a half court shot followed by a swish the full length of the court.
“I have never seen that in my life,” Howland said. “You know the LeBron James ad? But it was real. I said, “˜He’s got to have a good game.’ … There is nobody else in this building, including the fans, that could do a two-hand chest pass from end line to end line like that.”