 |
| UCLA's TJ Leaf dunks after being fouled by USC's Bennie Boatwright (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG) |
feb 18 2017 | clay fowler |o.c. register | ARTICLE LINK
LOS ANGELES – When UCLA tipped off against USC Saturday night, the No. 6 team in the country was simply trying to avoid embarrassment. A loss would have extended USC’s win streak against UCLA to five games, its longest in the rivalry since the 1940s.
LOS ANGELES – When UCLA tipped off against USC Saturday night, the No. 6 team in the country was simply trying to avoid embarrassment. A loss would have extended USC’s win streak against UCLA to five games, its longest in the rivalry since the 1940s.
By the end of the night, the red on the faces of the USC contingent nearly matched the Trojans’ uniforms. UCLA ran away with a 102-70 win at Pauley Pavilion, the last few minutes of which were a dunk-filled show for the crowd of 13,659 adorned entirely in blue T-shirts.
“Anytime you’re playing a rival like that and you’re up big at the end, it just gets a lot more fun,” said UCLA freshman TJ Leaf, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Senior Bryce Alford scored a game-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting. The last of his five 3-pointers, part of 31-9 UCLA run to close the game, gave the Bruins a 30-point lead with 2:06 to play.
There were six UCLA players in double figures, including Lonzo Ball, who had 15 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and four turnovers. Bruins’ 7-foot- center, Thomas Welsh, had a season-high 16 rebounds to go along with 16 points as UCLA outscored USC in the paint, 44-28.
USC (21-6, 8-6 Pac-12) defeated UCLA (24-3, 11-3) by eight on Jan. 25 at Galen Center on the strength of a season-high 3-pointers and a zone defense that forced the nation’s highest-scoring offense into 17 turnovers, including seven by Ball.
The Bruins haven’t lost since. UCLA avenged a last-second loss to Oregon with an 82-79 win at Pauley Pavilion Feb. 9. It’s safe to say the Bruins have redeemed themselves against USC. All that’s left is a Feb. 25 date at Arizona.
Ball thinks UCLA is currently playing its best basketball of the season.
“Going into March, we’ve got to hit our stride now,” he said. “Coach always says February sets up March and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
UCLA shot 54 percent from the field and held USC to 34 percent. After shooting 30 percent from 3-point range in their first meeting with USC, UCLA looked more like the team with the fourth-best 3-point percentage in the country by making 7 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half and shooting 50 percent for the game.
“It just snowballed,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “When UCLA scores the basketball, you have to be able to score with them. Of course, you have to get some stops. We didn’t do either.”
The Trojans, whose spot in the NCAA tournament appears relatively safe despite the nature of the loss, trailed by five with 2:58 to play in the first half. UCLA closed with an 11-4 run punctuated by a Ball 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Five minutes into the second half, the Trojans fell behind by 15. Bennie Boatwright, who missed the first meeting with UCLA due to a knee injury that shelved the sophomore for 15 games, helped USC whittle the lead to nine at the 10:42 mark of the second half courtesy of six of his team-high 20 points. But USC never pulled closer the rest of the game.
“It felt like we were there the whole game,” USC point guard Jordan McLaughlin said. “All we needed was two or three stops to cut it six or four. We're right back in it. We just weren't in it to get stops.”
UCLA outscored USC 31-9 over the final 7:44. The Bruins’ lead swelled to 20 with a 10-0 run fueled by an Alford 3-pointer and a three-point play by the coach’s son that prompted a snarl Kobe Bryant would have been proud of.
“A Kobe Bryant face? I’ll take it,” Alford said. “When I get it going for my team and I know I’m helping my team win, it’s what happens to my face. I don’t know if one day it’s going to get stuck like that.”
Alford’s fifth and final 3-pointer ballooned the lead to 30 with 2:06 to play on the heels of consecutive alley-oops that ignited the capacity crowd.
It didn’t look as promising for the No. 6 team in the country in the early going.
When McLaughlin took a steal the length of the court for a lay-up to give the Trojans a 21-16 lead, it was beginning to feel like Jan. 25 at Galen Center again. The Bruins’ were in an 0-for-9 drought at the time and USC again appeared to be in possession of the kryptonite for the nation’s most efficient offense.
“A stretch like that where you’re not hitting shots and you’re giving up easy points, it’s one of those moments where it’s easy to get down on yourself and get into yourself and play selfishly,” Welsh said. “I think you’ve just got to forget about it and keep your head cool.”
Contact the writer: cfowler@scng.com
No comments:
Post a Comment