Saturday, February 15, 2014

UCLA basketball finds shooting touch in 92-74 win over Colorado

Colorado forward Xavier Johnson, left, and UCLA forward Tony Parker, battle for a loose ball in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) 
Colorado forward Josh Scott, right, stands near as his teammate Askia Booker, center, goes for a layup against UCLA guard Jordan Adams in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) 
With just over a minute left on the game clock, Pauley Pavilion let out a collective gasp — a noise filled in equal parts disappointment and disbelief.
No, it’s not the game that was in question. UCLA already led by double digits, and was comfortably on its way to a 92-74 win over Colorado on Thursday night.
It’s just that the home crowd had grown so accustomed to long bombs finding net. And by the time David Wear’s 3-point attempt spun out, those 8,431 had perhaps only hazy memories of what misses looked like.
After an underwhelming start to its rematch against Colorado — 10 assists to seven turnovers through the first 20 minutes — UCLA (19-5, 8-3) found its groove and cruised to its fourth straight home victory.
The Bruins shot 8 of 12 from beyond the arc in the second half, and 20 of 32 overall. On the night, they finished 11 of 22 from long range, and moved the ball to the tune of 25 assists against 11 turnovers.
“When you make two in a row, it ends up being a lot easier to score,” said backup point guard Bryce Alford, who made all four of his 3-pointers in the second half. “Your eyes start opening up. The hoop seems to be a little bit bigger.”
Kyle Anderson had a game-high 22 points, as well as 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Alford had 14 points. Guard Jordan Adams finished with 17 despite missing all five of his 3-point attempts; he balanced those out with five points at the line, including four in the final minute.
The flurry came after another slow start, something that has become frustratingly common as the Bruins carve into their conference schedule.
After opening the night on an 11-3 run, UCLA’s offense slowly trickled to a stop. The team soon missed five straight field goals, then endured a stretch of possessions that included four turnovers and two misses. Not a single Bruin finished the first half with double-digit scoring.
Meanwhile, Colorado (18-7, 7-5) chipped away at the deficit — tying the game at 15 at 13:48, then pulling away to lead by as much as 12. Over five minutes, the Buffs unleashed an 18-5 run.
Key to the effort was sophomore forward Josh Scott, who was unstoppable in the paint early on. He led all scorers at halftime with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, chipping in three rebounds, a block and a steal. He even flushed in a dunk at the buzzer, bumping the lead to 40-36 going into the locker room.
It was the fifth Pac-12 game UCLA had trailed at halftime, but just the second at Pauley Pavilion.
“Coach wasn’t too happy with that,” Anderson said of the slow start. “That’s got to be unacceptable for us too. That’s a problem we had to deal with at the beginning of the season.”
Scott — who finished with 20 points and five rebounds — came out strong in the second half as the Bruins pushed back, tipping in Xavier Johnson’s fast-break miss and draw the foul.
Eventually, it wasn’t enough. The Buffs lost the lead for good a little over six minutes into the second period, buried by UCLA’s hot shooting.

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