UCLA appears ready for start of Pac-12 season





UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad lately has been looking more as advertised at the beginning of the season.

PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

UCLA appears ready for start of Pac-12 season


BY RYAN KARTJE
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 2, 2013 Updated: 4:34 p.m.

LOS ANGELES – There's no telling when the moment was exactly, when it all seemed to come together for the UCLA basketball team in the final game of its non-conference season.

Perhaps it was on one of the Wear twins combined career-high 18 field goals. Or maybe it was when Shabazz Muhammad, carrying the team on his back in overtime, scored his seventh point of the key extra period from long range. Or could it have been just one seemingly inconspicuous moment in which it all just, well, clicked?

Either way, after the Bruins left the floor in celebration having upset No. 7 Missouri last Friday, there was a sense of confidence in the voices of players and their coach Ben Howland that hadn't been their before the 97-94, overtime victory. They knew, like everyone else knew, that this victory couldn't have been timed any better.

"I think this is one of the biggest wins that we could possibly get," Muhammad said. "We're right back where we want to be."

Just a week before, Howland had been answering questions about his job, while players were asked constantly how long it would take to make it all work. Now, with only the Pac-12 season in front of them – a schedule that starts Thursday against Cal – the Bruins are indeed close to where they could have been after starting the year ranked 13th overall. But without the same number next to their name, UCLA still has some damage control remaining from its brutally slow start.

The biggest piece in solving that early-season puzzle has been the emergence of freshman phenom Shabazz Muhammad, who is quickly living up to all the hype he brought with him to Westwood as the nation's No. 1 prep player. Twenty pounds lighter than he was when he debuted in Brooklyn, Muhammad has looked energized in his past four games, scoring 21 or more points in each contest. And against the Tigers, he flashed the killer instinct that so many said could make him a star.

With one minute remaining and his team down by two points, point guard Larry Drew II drove to the basket and jumped stopped, seeing Muhammad out of the corner of his eye, open at the top of the key. He passed it to the freshman, who promptly drilled the shot – the most clutch yet of his young career – giving UCLA the lead. It was exactly the moment fans had dreamed of when Muhammad had signed his letter of intent to come to Westwood.

"I like taking big shots," Muhammad said, shortly after his 27-point, career-high performance. "I felt comfortable shooting it. Larry trusted me on the shot and I just hit it."

The confidence was obvious in Muhammad's tone that night. He wants to be the Bruins' star as much as Westwood wants the same. And with so many expectations on his shoulders – being a top draft pick, fulfilling his No. 1 status, winning in the NCAA Tournament – the Bruins may go as Muhammad goes this season.

"He's obviously getting better," Howland said of his leading scorer. "He's still learning; everything is new."

There are plenty of new things to come for the Bruins' young group and plenty of other questions to be answered throughout the upcoming Pac-12 season. Can a seven-man rotation stay healthy? Can Larry Drew be the team's most consistent option, especially defensively, at point guard? Can UCLA outscore everyone else, while its defense continues to struggle?

It's impossible to know with such a young team so early in the season what the formula for success really boils down to. But for just a few moments on Friday, we got a glimpse of what it looked like. And with Pac-12 season now upon us, the Bruins will spend the rest of the season trying to find it again.

Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com