TUCSON, Ariz. – Shabazz Muhammad earned his high school fame in the spotlight — ascending to No. 1 in the country by performing under the brightest of lights and carrying the heaviest of his team's burden. Pressure has always been his greatest companion.
And there he stood Thursday night, at a potential crossroads in UCLA's season with the ball in his hands behind Arizona's 3-point line, the Wildcats having stolen away all the game's momentum.
The freshman insisted earlier in the week he would take this game into his own hands, if need be, after he and the Bruins fell apart down the stretch against Oregon. And with less than six minutes remaining and UCLA's lead cut to five, he followed through on his promise.
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| UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad (15) finds an open lane to the basket between Arizona's Soloman Hill (left) and Grant Jerrett during the second half Thursday night (JOHN MILLER, AP). |
Muhammad hit the open 3-pointer directly in front of a rabid Arizona crowd, sprinted back to the other end of the court, and stole the ball back again — a turnover that led to two free throws and a crucial five-point swing — sucking all the air out of an inflating McKale Center.
In a game of rally after rally, the Bruins — and more specifically, their best player — finally held on in the final five minutes for an 84-73 victory over No. 6 Arizona. After a tough loss to Oregon, the Bruins responded with their first true road victory over a ranked team in almost half a decade (Washington State, 2008), and the first loss for Arizona at home since January of last season.
And for Muhammad, who finished with 23 points on 50 percent shooting, the lights and his team's future had never been brighter.
"When the lights are on, when the cameras are on, his level always raises," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "It always raises. It always gets better. ... He's a hell of a competitor."
The Bruins seemed to follow his suit, as they were, at one point, whittled to just a six-man rotation with junior forward Travis Wear (concussion-like symptoms) missing the second half and freshman guard Jordan Adams (cramps) missing 10 minutes. Still, UCLA continued to run and maintain its fast tempo with players on both sides gasping for air between plays.
The Bruins soldiered on as the Wildcats pushed and pushed all game long, trying their best to erase the 16-point hole they had dug in the opening minutes. With 11 minutes remaining, they had cut the lead to four. But that's the closest they got.
A 21-5 start was crucial for UCLA, but it was the consistent rally that came with each successive Arizona run that truly showed how resilient this Bruins team can potentially be, proving they're tougher than they looked against the Ducks just a week ago.
"We took (the Oregon loss) very hard," said Adams, who ended a brief slump with 15 crucial points. "We practiced so hard, probably the hardest we've practiced. ... We haven't lost twice in a row this year. We wanted to prove a point."
As the "White Out" at the McKale Center began to dissipate in the final minutes, it seemed the Bruins had done just that.
They hit the glass much harder — outrebounding the Wildcats, 45-44, despite Arizona ranking fifth in the nation in rebounding margin. They played better defense, holding their opponent under 40 percent from the field for the fourth time since the Pac-12 season began. And for the first time since upsetting Missouri at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins, led by Muhammad, seemed to regain the sense of swagger that so many had expected from them, and they'd done it under the brightest of lights.
"We let some wins go early on in the season," point guard Larry Drew II said. "I do believe that people are starting to recognize us for the type of team that we are and the type of team that we could be. I don't think we've peaked yet."
Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com
Shabazz Muhammad has 23 points and the Bruins start fast to get a rare victory, 84-73, over the Wildcats in Arizona.
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2013
11:10 PM PST
TUCSON — This was a game the young UCLA Bruins seemingly had no business winning.
Yet at the end, there was Kyle Anderson trying to give high fives to Arizona students, and finding no takers.
There was Jordan Adams, weary from two days of illness, bouncing toward the locker room, grinning at the silence.
There was Shabazz Muhammad having the last laugh, as the student section at McKale Center left behind the placards personally addressed to him — some funny, some not.
Freshmen having fun.
The 84-73 victory over sixth-ranked Arizona on Thursday probably won't sink in for a bit, at least with UCLA's freshmen. But this was big, especially coming off a home loss to Oregon. It kept the Bruins a game behind the Ducks in the Pac-12 standings.
The Bruins left Tucson with a victory for the first time since 2008, the last time they won the conference title, by beating a team that had a 44-2 home record the last two-plus seasons.
"It's probably tough for the freshmen to get it," UCLA forward David Wear said. "They don't realize how much we've struggled playing here the past couple years. This place is packed. The student section is crazy. There are not a lot of teams that can come out of here with a victory."
The Bruins (16-4, 6-1) did, even after losing Travis Wear, their second-leading scorer, to a concussion in the first half. They also had to do without Adams, who went to the locker room in the second half because of cramps.
"It was 10 real minutes and I thought it was 15," Coach Ben Howland said. "That's the way it seemed."
Time did drag for the Bruins, especially after they bolted to a 21-5 lead after eight minutes.
But …
"I knew in my head, 'They're going to make runs at us,'" guard Larry Drew II said.
The Wildcats (16-2, 4-2) did, getting as close as 55-51 with 11 minutes left. Drew ran the offense, finishing with nine assists, keeping Arizona at arm's length.
"It's going to be hard to forget this one," said Muhammad, who had a team-high 23 points. "This is the sixth-ranked team. We're probably going to see ourselves on ESPN and all that stuff, and everyone is hyping us up."
But, he said, "You're only as good as your last game."
Then the Bruins are pretty good at the moment.
UCLA can point to defense as the tipping point. Arizona shot 38%. And the rebounding — the root cause of the Oregon loss — was better. The Bruins had a 45-44 edge.
But it was the grit that mattered.
Anderson missed practice with flu Tuesday. Adams was also sick, and had to leave practice a couple of times. Things got worse when Travis Wear took an elbow to the head in the first half. He said after the game that he was hoping to play against Arizona State.
"I have to pass a couple of concussion tests," he said.
The Bruins have only eight scholarship players. They were down to six when Adams went to the locker room to hydrate.
"I had four Gatorades," Adams said. "I was so full, I thought they were all going to come back up."
UCLA looked to others.
David Wear had added minutes with his brother out. He finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Tony Parker played 10 minutes, the most in a month. He had six points, two on a spin move and fall-away jumper where he was fouled and made the free throw for a 63-55 lead with six minutes left.
"I thought he was more aggressive tonight," Howland said.
So was Muhammad.
The freshman guard had talked this week about "taking it upon myself to win this game." Howland said he "didn't win it by himself." He did, though, come close.
Muhammad made eight of 16 shots, and was blistering from the start.
Said Howland: "The one thing you notice about Shabazz, that you see in very few players, when the lights are on and the cameras are on, his game raises. It always gets better."
chris.foster@latimes.com
twitter.com/cfosterlatimes
Bruins' Shabazz Muhammad, Jordan
Adams and Kyle Anderson combine for 46 points, 20 rebounds in upset
victory
By John Marshall, The Associated
Press
via The LA Daily News
Posted: 01/24/2013 10:08:06 PM PST
Updated: 01/24/2013 11:37:45 PM
PST
TUCSON, Ariz. - A once-huge lead down to a few points, Shabazz Muhammad
popped in a 3-pointer on the wing, then turned a steal into a pair of free
throws that gave UCLA a nice cushion.
The big stage and bright lights, that's right where the Bruins' talented
freshman guard feels right at home.
Keying a huge early run and hitting big shots down the stretch, Muhammad
scored 23 points and lifted UCLA to a signature road win, 84-73 over No. 6
Arizona on Thursday night.
"When the lights are on and the cameras are on, he really comes to life,"
UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
The rest of the Bruins weren't bad, either.
Coming off a disappointing loss to Oregon, UCLA (16-4, 6-1 Pac-12) tried to
turn Arizona's whiteout into a blowout, racing to a 16-point lead in the game's
first seven minutes.
Even when Arizona chipped away at the lead, bringing the all-in-white crowd
at the McKale Center to life, the Bruins kept their composure in one of the
toughest places to play in college basketball.
Larry Drew II played a steady game at the point, dishing out nine assists
while turning it over twice. David Wear helped make up for the loss of his twin
brother to a head injury in the second half, scoring 15 points with eight
rebounds.
Kyle Anderson shook off the effects of a flu that caused him to miss a day of
practice this week, grabbing 12 rebounds to go with eight points. Jordan Adams, another player who missed practice due to illness,
scored 15 points after fighting through cramps against Arizona.
"It was hard, but we stayed with it," Adams said.
Arizona (16-2, 4-2) has had a knack for pulling out comeback victories this
season.
Not this time.
After a miserable start at both ends against UCLA, the Wildcats never fully
recovered, pulling no closer than four points after digging a huge opening hole.
Nick Johnson scored 23 points for the Wildcats, who went 5 for 24 from
3-point range and struggled to slow the Bruins.
"We got down early," Hill said. "When you get down like that, it's hard to
fight back. UCLA is a great team and we couldn't contain them."
Heading in, this was one of the most anticipated games of the Pac-12 season,
two of the conference's most talented teams that score in bunches and have some
of the best freshmen anywhere.
Arizona's freshmen big men - Kaleb Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley and Grant
Jerrett - have been solid in their first season in the desert, though they have
been able to fall back on Arizona's veterans when things have gotten tight.
After opening with 14 straight wins, the Wildcats' luck in pulling out tight
games ran out with a 70-66 road loss to Oregon on Jan. 10. They responded with a
pair of impressive wins, beating Oregon State and Arizona State both by double
digits.
UCLA had some rough patches early in the season, losing to Cal Poly and
needing overtime to beat UC Irvine, along with Tyler Lamb and Joshua Smith
transferring from the program.
McKale Center hosted a free-throw party in the final minutes, but UCLA held on at Arizona for a thrilling 84-73 win — easily the Bruins biggest of the season. The path to the Pac-12 title still requires an Oregon loss, but UCLA rebounded impressively from a humbling home loss to Oregon.
A telling quote from Travis Wear earlier this week: “We’ve done a good job going into games where we put a lot of pressure on ourselves — when we really know it’s going to be a big game. I think the last time we did that was Missouri. Going into that game, we viewed that as a ‘must-win’ and we did well.”
The Bruins led by as much as 14 seven minutes into the second half, but they’ve allowed teams to come back (see: Utah, Colorado). This time, in the face of the loudest crowd they’ve seen yet, they withstood a 10-0 run that cut the lead to 55-51 at 11:12.
Shabazz Muhammad, who scored a game-high 23 points, was responsible for a key five point swing with under six minutes to go, following up a 3-pointer with a steal and two free throws. That stretched the UCLA lead to 68-58. The Bruins then scored 10 of their final 14 points at the charity stripe to seal the game.
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That crowd was silenced early and emphatically; UCLA began the game hot, Arizona started 1-of-10, and by the time Sean Miller called at timeout at the 14-minute mark the Bruins led 17-3. UCLA couldn't have asked for a better start, but it kept up its torrid pace throughout, outrunning and outgunning an Arizona team that could never quite find its rhythm.
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