Bruins take care of business with CSUN

UCLA (5-2) is high on the list of Cal State Northridge's greatest sports moments when they upset the Bruins in 2008 when Steve Lavin was coach. The Matadors (1-6) were hoping that lighting would strike twice and though the Bruins continue to turn the ball over, they were too much for feisty CSUN team.

Senior swingman Josh Shipp came out of the box strong scoring 11 of UCLA's first 20 points to set the tone. On the night, Shipp tied for the lead in scoring for Bruins with 14 points. He was 5-9 from the floor, and hit 4-6 from the foul stripe. Shipp also added six assists to the cause. The only negative was he was 0-2 from beyond the three-point arc.

Freshman Jrue Holiday bounced back from his quiet performance in Texas with an outstanding effort on both ends of the floor. Holiday tied Shipp for the team's lead in scoring with 14. He was 5-10 from the field, 2-3 from the three, 2-2 from foul line, had six steals, five rebounds, and four assists for well-rounded performance.

Junior forward James Keefe was also a catalyst for the quick start. Keefe had six of the teams first 11 points and had three of his team leading seven within the first seven minutes of the game. He nine points for the game, but his woes from the foul line continue as he missed his only attempt.

Senior guard Darren Collison was his reliable self scoring 13 points and tied for the team lead with six assists.

Senior Alfred Aboya was solid again scoring nine points and had five boards in 21 minutes of play.

Freshman forward Drew Gordon had his best day as a Bruin scoring nine points and five rebounds while providing the Bruins with a lot of energy.

The Matadors were led by C/F Tremaine Townsend who had a career best and game high 23 points.

It was a good bounce back win because it was the kind of game that the Bruins could have easily be looking ahead, but UCLA head coach Ben Howland addressed that and the Bruins did what good teams do and that is take care of business against that aren't as good as them.

The Bruins have lost two games to two team teams that appear to be good enough to play in the tournament on the road by a total of seven points. Not a bad start when you consider that the Bruins are breaking in a lot of players. Only two, Darren Collison and Josh Shipp are used to the amount of minutes they are playing.

Once the rest of the team gets their sea legs this team could be very good once the Pac 10 season starts.