In an 83-60 win over Weber State on Sunday night, UCLA’s Kyle Anderson fell four assists short of his second triple-double of the season. Perhaps it’s just as well; hardly anyone would have seen the milestone.
The Pac-12 Network’s game feed went dead for most of the second half due to technical difficulties, replaced by a replay of the USC football team’s 20-17 win over Stanford on Nov. 16.
As a minor consolation, Pauley Pavilion drew more fans than it had all season. Those lucky 7,013 could have witnessed the first Bruin to have two career triple-doubles. Anderson notched his actual triple-double, the third in school history, on Nov. 22. It followed Toby Bailey and Jelani McCoy, both of whom pocketed theirs in December 1995.
Anderson also entered the day as one of six Division I players to have a triple-double this season, none of whom have done it twice. Arguably the most versatile player in the Pac-12, he was the only one ranked among the conference’s top-five in rebounds (8.8), assists (6.7) and steals (1.81). He has grabbed at least six rebounds in every game this season, and has registered at least five assists in all but two outings.
His chance to do so was perhaps undone by UCLA’s immense lead over the Wildcats (2-5), one that swelled to as much as 30 points.
With 13:30 left on the game clock, the 6-foot-9 point guard had 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He quieted down the rest of the way, and ended the game on the bench with four more points and another rebound. It was enough for his sixth double-double of the season, and 14th of his career.
“I don’t worry about that stuff,” he said, when asked if he was aware of how close he’d been. “If I do everything I’m supposed to do and play as hard as I can, and help my team, that’s going to come by itself.”
The sophomore did set another personal best: his 23 points were a career-high, breaking his previous high of 21, which he had reached twice. He shot 6-of-9 from the field, and drained 9 of his 10 attempts at the free-throw line.
He hit both his 3-point shots, and is now 60 percent from beyond the arc this season. He finished his freshman campaign at 21.1 percent.
Anderson said last week that he’s worked with the coaching staff to adjust his shooting form, but also attributes the improvement to a mental leap: “I had it in my head that I was going to become a better shooter. I trusted my confidence.”
He also had two steals for the Bruins (10-2), who held Weber State to 37 percent from the field after halftime. UCLA has been outscored by 17 in the second half of losses to Missouri and Duke.
“We put together a second half defensively that was the best 20 minutes we’ve had in a while,” head coach Steve Alford said.
The Bruins also outrebounded the Wildcats, 42-28. They had surrendered a combined rebounding advantage of 25 to the Tigers and the Blue Devils.
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