TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; He knew it was just a matter of time before it would happen, but Josh Shipp was relieved to get back on track with his shooting after struggling ever since sustaining a small tear in his right hamstring.
On Saturday afternoon, Shipp tallied 24 points and got himself back into a groove that has coach Ben Howland expecting big things from the redshirt sophomore in the future.
“I think this game is a turning point for (Shipp),” Howland said. “I’m telling you right now, I think this will get him back on track to playing like he did at the start of the year.”
After missing the Bruins’ first matchup against crosstown rival USC on Jan. 13, Shipp began a stretch of nine games in which he played much worse than he had earlier in the year.
Shipp shot 3-for-24 from beyond the 3-point line during that period and averaged under double digits in scoring while receiving criticism from nearly everyone, with the exception of his teammates, who have faith in Shipp’s shooting ability.
“That was the Shipp we know,” Darren Collison said of Shipp’s performance against Arizona. “He’s a good shooter and it was just a matter of time before he had a game like this.”
Shipp shot an impressive 10-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-4 from beyond the arc while playing just as well on the defensive end, holding Wildcat freshman Chase Budinger to 13 points and forcing four turnovers.
“He played both ends of the floor,” Howland said. “Not only did he score 24 points on 10-for-14, he made great passes and did a great job of defending (Budinger).”
Shipp has known he is capable of stroking his shot, but has been struggling to do so, and that there is more to his game than the percentages and averages shown in the box score.
“Numbers lie sometimes,” Shipp said. “You can’t always go by the numbers; they don’t always tell the whole story.
“I’m a shooter. I never doubted myself.”
ATTACKING THE ZONE: The Bruins seem to have become more comfortable with attacking zone defenses after having seen opponents throw the defensive strategy at them through the majority of the season.
UCLA has adapted and adjusted, and several Bruins feel they are capable of successfully beating a team that chooses to test UCLA’s offense with a zone defense.
“Teams are starting to throw the zone at us because they think it’s our weakness, but I think it’s starting to become more of our strength,” Collison said.
Collison has become more aggressive with the ball, often weaving through the defense before either backing the ball back out beyond the arc or dishing a pass to an open teammate either inside the lane or beyond the arc.
The sophomore point guard played one of the best games of his career against the zone defense of Arizona, scoring 17 points and recording 15 assists.
“We attacked the zone with real good aggressiveness,” Howland said. “This game will give us more confidence playing against zones and I’m excited about that.”
PERFECT FROM THE LINE: Though UCLA didn’t make it to the free-throw line until there were just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, the Bruins shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, including two from junior Lorenzo Mata, who has been struggling all season.
“I was praying on the bench,” Howland said. “And thank God for answering my prayers. It was that serious.”
When Mata stepped to the line, he was faced with derogatory chants that he has become quite accustomed to when taking the court in opposing arenas.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Mata said. “It happens to me every place we go. I just stayed focused on making the free throws.”