The Bruins did what they do when they win games. Play solid defense and keep turnovers to a minimum. UCLA (11-10, 4-4 Pac-12) beat No. 20 ranked nationally, Colorado (16-5, 5-3 Pac-12) to open the homestand in the right way, 72-68.
At about the 15:00 minute mark, the Bruins went on a 16-2 run while holding the Buffs scoreless, but CU is rated for a reason, and they went on a run 10-2 of their own getting the score to 25-20 with 6:50 left in the first half.
The Bruins settled down and outscored the Buffs 12-7 and were leading at the break 39-27.
The difference in the first stanza was the Buffs had seven turnovers to UCLA's four. The Bruins outrebounded Colorado 20-10, and out those 20 boards, UCLA had seven offensive rebounds compared to one for CU.
This was not lost on Colorado head coach, Tad Boyle.
“They [UCLA] just really out-toughed us,” Boyle said. “UCLA just out-toughed us. From the start of the game, they were just tougher, but we were better in the second half. This team [CU] really has heart, but the last two games we got punked. We fouled more than usual. UCLA deserved to win this game.”
Boyle was right. The Bruins did deserve to win this game, and the Buffs were better in the second half. Early on, the Buffs went on a 12-0 run to cut the UCLA lead to only three, and during that time span, the Bruins turned the ball over four times and were 0-5 from the field. The Buffs dwindled the Bruin lead to only three.
Prince Ali had one of his best games in awhile stopped the Buffs by hitting two free throws. Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit a bucket right after that, and the Bruins were back in business.
One of the biggest stories of this game is that the Bruins were 20-20 from the foul line until less than a minute to play, then they missed four straight, but still, they ended up 25-29 from the line hitting 86.2 percent, and that helped the Bruins win the game.
The Bruins had three players score in double-figures led Chris Smith’s career-best 30 points. He also led the Bruins in rebounding with nine and steals with three.
Jaquez scored 13 points, and Ali scored 11 to round UCLA’s scorers in double-figures.
CU had four players that scored in double-figures Evan Battey and McKinley Wright tied for the team-high of 14 points. Tyler Bey had his Bruin game average of 12 points, and Lucas Siewert had 11 points off the bench.
Give credit to a pesky UCLA defense that had eight steals and were relentless. UCLA outrebounded the CU by ten, 39-29. The Buffs shot only 42.2 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from the three, and were 23-31 from the line (74.2 percent).
The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach, Mick Cronin was pleased with his team’s performance,
“Obviously a great win for our team, top-25 opponent,” Cronin said. “Somebody told me they had 95-percent of their scoring back. I thought they could easily could be coming into tonight’s game 18-2. They had a couple of wild losses late in games.
“They’re extremely well-coached, they play extremely physical. I thought the key to the game would be our rebounding. We were going to have to get some second-chance points because they’re so solid defensively, which is what veteran teams are. Plus, they had depth, so if guys don’t defend, he puts another guy in. So our second-chance points were big for us, we were plus-8, and I think that was the difference in the game.
“Very happy for Prince [Ali], obviously Chris [Smith] played great. Prince’s attitude in practice the last two days was great. So many young kids this day and age – when things aren’t going their way – play the victim instead of looking in the mirror. We had a talk – I want him to finish his career, he and Alex [Olesinski] are just great kids, we need them to help us win some games. Just really happy that Prince made those shots, for him.
“Obviously, the ball goes in; it helps the coach’s blood pressure. They’re a very good team. We’re going to play them again. Great win for us.”
Now this team’s growth needs to have another good showing next time out, which is this coming Sunday, February 2nd, when UCLA will host Utah with a scheduled tipoff at high noon PST. The game will be televised on the FS1 Network.
