LOS ANGELES – Four games is officially a trend. Especially when one of them is against the fifth-ranked college basketball team in the country.
UCLA’s late-season defensive evolution continued Sunday afternoon in the form of a 78-60 win over Oregon State.
Holding the last-place team in the Pac-12 to the second-lowest point total for an opponent this season may not shake anybody to their core. Combined with No. 10 UCLA’s fearsome offense, the most efficient in the nation, any sustained improvement on the other end of the floor is noteworthy. Ask No. 5 Oregon, which made three field goals in the final 12 minutes of its loss to UCLA on Thursday.
“There’s obviously been a lot of talk about our defense, which after doing this for almost 26 years, it’s almost comical because other teams aren’t critiqued like we are,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said. “It’s who you are as your identity. Our team is a very efficient offensive team. Yes, we do want to continue to improve defensively, that’s a huge key for us. But we’re not all of a sudden going to start playing a 50-possession game to hold people in the 50s.”
Lonzo Ball led a subdued effort by the suddenly defensive-minded Bruins. The freshman point guard had a game-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting with nine assists, seven rebounds and just one turnover.
TJ Leaf was the only other UCLA player in double figures with 15 points to go along with nine rebounds.
After its most recent loss, an 84-76 shocker at USC Jan. 25, UCLA held a players-only meeting. Defense was the only topic.
It has now strung together improved defensive performances against four consecutive opponents. The Bruins looked different against the two Washington schools last week, but the trend is more believable considering the manner in which they have beaten the two Oregon schools.
“I don’t know if it was the team meeting,” senior Bryce Alford said. “I don’t know if something just clicked but the last two weeks we’ve really started to play better defense.”
Coming off Thursday’s 19-point comeback against Oregon, UCLA started slow on Sunday.
It needed an 8-0 run to take a 32-27 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Bruins were operating at near maximum efficiency on both ends of the floor.
UCLA scored 46 points in the second half on 57 percent shooting, surging to a 22-point lead with nearly 10 minutes remaining in the game.
After making 5 of its first 8 attempts from 3-point range, Oregon State finished 9 of 23 from beyond the arc and shot 40 percent from the field.
“We proved that we can guard,” Ball said. “We’ve just got to sustain that for 40 minutes. We’ve got to keep working toward that until March. We’ve got to play defense in March.”
UCLA unveiled a full-court press for the first time this season, a tool to aid its defense and increase the tempo of the game.
It helped the Bruins swell their five-point halftime lead to 13 in the first four minutes of the second half before an 18-6 run capped by G.G. Goloman’s first 3-pointer of the season opened their largest lead of the game.
Alford is certainly pleased with the trend in UCLA’s defensive efficiency. But the UCLA coach made sure to point out that he’s pleased with his team’s effect on opponent’s statistics in that department.
“If you’ve looked at teams that have played us, they’ve come in with one defensive efficiency,” Alford said. “And when they leave, it’s a little bit different.”
Contact the writer: cfowler@scng.com
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