At the halftime buzzer, Jordan Adams soared up next to the basket and tipped in a wayward 3-point attempt — giving UCLA a commanding 24-point lead at the break.
Some 30 seconds later, officials waved off the two points after a review. It was about the only break USC caught all Sunday afternoon, as the Bruins thoroughly dismantled them 107-73 at Pauley Pavilion.
The scoring total was UCLA’s largest this season, and tied for its highest total ever against the Trojans as well as the second-highest margin of victory.
“I think it was a very good win,” said sophomore Kyle Anderson, who tied a career-high with 23 points. “I think (it being) a very good win makes it a statement. Fortunately, we scored a lot of points. Tied the record, that’s cool and all. … It’s a very good message.”
The crosstown basketball rivalry has not carried much fire in recent years, given that UCLA had won five of its last six meetings. For just the fourth time ever, however, both schools were debuting first-year head coaches.
Andy Enfield landed the USC job off of Florida Gulf Coast’s marvelous Sweet Sixteen run, one that anchored an otherwise light resume. He nevertheless captured plenty of headlines: first in October, when he remarked in practice that UCLA played “slow,” then a month later when he joked that he had the same number of Sweet Sixteen berths as Steve Alford — despite a head coaching career that began two decades later.
Alford had said those comments had “zero” effect on how the Bruins (12-2, 1-0 Pac-12) would prepare for the game, but the team’s actual performance spoke to at least a small measure of extra motivation. After giving up the first bucket of the game, UCLA unleashed an 11-0 run and never trailed again.
The Trojans (9-5, 0-1) responded with a run here and there, but they were brief interludes in a relentless beating. USC never closed to within 10 points after the 6:36 mark in the first half, nor to within 20 after 13:11 in the second.
Pauley Pavilion, host to a season-high announced crowd of 11,285, broke out in cheers of ridicule. Every 10 minutes or so, someone would shout down at Enfield, asking if the game was too fast. Toward the end, the stands broke out in unison: “Just like football.”
It wasn’t just the fans who celebrated. When Anderson scored his 22nd and 23rd points with a contested layup midway through the second half, Alford gave him an uncharacteristic chest bump.
The point guard added 12 rebounds and five assists on his way to his seventh double-double of the season.
Freshman Bryce Alford led the team with 15 points in the first half, and ended up with a career-high 20 points.
“It’s a really big win for us,” he said. “It’s a big momentum shift.”
There was a minor bit of testiness in the game as well. USC center Omar Oraby committed a hard foul less than 30 seconds into the game, but wasn’t called for a flagrant.
And when the game was well out of reach with 12.7 seconds left, backup big man D.J. Haley tried to poke away the ball from reserve guard Kory Alford, sending him to the foul line. Alford made the first of his two free throws to cap the scoring.
No comments:
Post a Comment