UCLA, riding defense and rebounding, looks ready for March
TUCSON — The coach sounds as confident as his players.
And why shouldn’t he be? After grinding out a 77-72 win against a very good Arizona team in front of one of the most hostile crowds in all of college basketball? After his team’s seventh consecutive win — including three that avenged the team’s only losses?
Why wouldn’t Steve Alford believe that his team was ready for March, and the madness that comes with it?
“I think so,” Alford said after UCLA’s win Saturday. “We’ve still got two games here into March to finish the regular season, obviously an emotional week with Senior Night coming … but we’re really, really proud of our guys. If we can finish this thing off, we can get 28 regular-season wins. If we do what we can do and continue to play well, we’re on a roll heading into the Pac-12 tournament and into March. You want to be playing your best basketball — and I think we’re playing our best basketball of the year right now.”
And it’s clear why: Defense and rebounding.
MORE COLLEGE BASKETBALL
USA TODAY Sports Bracketology: Gonzaga falls to No. 2, opens No. 1 to Pac-12 team
No. 5 UCLA wins at No. 4 Arizona to tighten the Pac-12 title race
Bubble Watch: Saturday's winners and losers among fringe teams
Really.
UCLA is a team that’s been pilloried for much of the season for lacking both. The Bruins were lauded for their endlessly entertaining offense — which is still the nation’s most efficient — and the emergence of freshman star Lonzo Ball, and lately his classmate T.J. Leaf as well.
“People have been killing us on our defense all year,” said senior guard Bryce Alford, who grabbed six rebounds in Saturday’s game. “Anytime you’re killed on an area, you work on it. This is a very hungry team. We know we’re not perfect and we’ve got a lot of work to do. And we know we’ve got a long ways to go, but people had been killing us on it and I think we did pretty (dang) good on the defensive end (against Arizona).”
Even when UCLA went into a zone in the second half Saturday, it proved quite effective, changing the pace of the game, confusing its opponent and forcing the Wildcats to stall and ultimately settle for quite a few jumpers. Particularly impressive was UCLA’s effort on the glass — something Steve Alford said the team has been focusing on, and junior center Thomas Welsh said he always tries to dominate. Not only did UCLA outrebound Arizona, but the Bruins also snagged 14 offensive rebounds (nine in the second half) — which, of course, led to more offensive possessions and scoring opportunities.
"Our strengths are (usually) our ability to get stops and defensive rebounds,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said afterward. "What we can control is that, when we get a stop and make them miss — and they're a tough team to make miss — but we could just not get a rebound. That hasn't happened to us in a while."
It didn’t happen the first time these two teams played — Arizona’s 96-85 win at Pauley Pavilion — but it happened by design during the rematch.
Wooden Watch: Purdue's Caleb Swanigan takes the lead
UCLA's Lonzo Ball says his headline-making father is not a distraction
“We’ve been growing,” Steve Alford said. “Everybody wants to talk about our defense. But bottom line: We’re a really good basketball team. There are teams out there that aren’t close to what we are offensively, but nobody wants to talk about the offense. I get it. But I really honestly believe our guys have improved on that end over the month of February.”
The Bruins are 7-0 in February (and only allowing opponents about 71.6 points per game) after losing back-to-back games to close out January, a fun stat that backs up Alford’s overarching point: That this team is ready for March. But how about this tidbit: The last time UCLA went unbeaten in February was when it won the national championship in 1995 — which just so happens to be the last time the Bruins won a title.
So, clearly, a strong February can lead to a memorable March; the Bruins know this. As the calendar turns its page, their confidence will only continue to grow.
And that’ should be a scary thought for the rest of the Pac-12, with its postseason tournament looming, and the rest of the NCAA tournament field, too. It’s one thing to play an offensive juggernaut. It’s an entirely different thing to play a very good complete team — and that’s exactly what UCLA has turned itself into.
BEST OF THE WEEK IN COLLEGE HOOPS
