Saturday, December 22, 2012

Rapid Reaction: UCLA 89, Long Beach State 70


Rapid Reaction: UCLA 89, Long Beach State 70
 
 
10:18 PM PT
 
 
 
LOS ANGELES -- With a hot start and a torrid finish, the UCLA Bruins posted their second consecutive blowout victory, this time an 89-70 victory over the Long Beach State 49ers on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

A quick look at the game:

How it happened: The Bruins (8-3) made 15 of their first 21 shots to build a cushion and never trailed in defeating the 49ers (4-7). Long Beach State made plenty of runs to try to get back into the game, trimming the lead to single digits several times. But a 15-5 run midway through the second half gave UCLA a 78-61 lead with 5:40 to play and the Bruins closed by making their final eight field goal attempts.

Four Bruins scored in double figures, led by Jordan Adams with 24 and Shabazz Muhammad with 21. Larry Drew II had his most complete game of the season, tallying 14 points and nine assists.

Player of the game: Adams had 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He also had three steals in the first half.

Stat of the game: UCLA shot 58.9 percent for the field, eclipsing 55 percent for the second game in a row.

What it means: UCLA continues to show signs of improvement. Although the interior defense left a lot to be desired (consider: Long Beach scored 38 points in the paint and 49ers center Dan Jennings had 27 points on 13-of-15 shooting), the Bruins fared well in playing man-to-man against a very athletic and battle-tested team.

What’s next: UCLA plays the Fresno State Bulldogs at 8 p.m. Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

No comments: