Katie Meyers / Daily BruinSophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson had a career-high 23 points and played a key role in UCLA's win on Sunday.BY KEVIN BOWMAN
the daily bruin
dec 22 2013
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Tied with No. 8 Duke at halftime, UCLA men’s basketball looked poised to topple one of the nation’s top teams on national television Thursday. But there were still 20 minutes left to play.
In the second half, the Bruins were outscored by 17 and were outplayed in the second half for the third consecutive game, prompting questions about their ability to finish games.
UCLA put those concerns to rest Sunday, playing stifling second-half defense en route to an 83-60 win over Weber State in front of a season-high crowd of 7,013.
Holding a 10-point lead at the break, UCLA was able to push that lead to as high as 30 in the second half, holding Weber State (2-5) to just 26 points and 37 percent shooting in the final period.
“We put together a second half defensively that was the best 20 minutes we had in a while,” said coach Steve Alford. “I thought we did a lot of good things with deflections and contesting things, and we’ve really challenged our guys from the Duke game of their urgency at the defensive end.”
UCLA (10-2) got off to a slow start, trailing 16-11 after the first six and a half minutes. But the Bruins quickly got back on track, regaining the lead and then some as sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson and freshman guard Bryce Alford fueled the Bruins during a 28-8 run.
“My team looks for me when we’re in that situation. When we’re in a tight game … they’ll look for me to do what I do in that situation,” Anderson said. “My teammates did a good job of running the floor and I was able to find someone in transition, knock down a couple shots and we built a lead.”
Anderson, who looked aggressive early on with multiple drives to the rim, finished with 10 rebounds, six assists along and a career-high 23 points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the half.
Anderson’s two three-pointers were part of his larger trend of strong three-point shooting. Since the Nov. 22 game against Morehead State, Anderson has made 12 of 16 shots from beyond the arc. After shooting just 21.1 percent from three last season, the 6-foot-9 guard/forward is shooting 60 percent from deep so far this year, an improvement he attributes to his growing confidence.
“This summer I just had in my head that I’m gonna become a better shooter,” Anderson said. “I trusted my confidence … and it’s working out.”
Anderson’s first-half success was paired with some offensive struggles from sophomore guard Jordan Adams, whose poor shooting against Duke appeared to carry over. After putting up only 10 points against Duke, Adams went scoreless in the first half and didn’t register his first point until hitting a jumper at the 18:34 mark in the second half. He finished the game with just five points.
But despite the lack of offensive production, Alford was pleased with Adams’ commitment to defense.
“I thought he really guarded well,” Alford said. “If he’s got to learn at that end what it takes to then be able to play at the other end, that’s perfect for me. I don’t worry about his offense.”
Despite the strong defensive play by the Bruins, particularly in the second half, the team is still looking to improve by putting all the pieces together and playing that way throughout the entire game.
“In order for us to be a good ball club and win games against tougher teams in the Pac-12, we got to put together a whole 40 minutes,” said sophomore forward/center Tony Parker. “So we want to get better and better and better as the game goes on. That’s what champions do, they get better as the game goes on, and that’s what we want to do.”
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