Able Lee leads Bruins to win
Sorry guys, I thought this posted last night, and I accidentally didn't publish)
Malcolm Lee has become such a defensive stopper lately that UCLA head coach Ben Howland has taken to tremendous praise for his junior shooting guard.
Howland called Lee one of the best perimeter defenders in the country for the work he's done in recent weeks against BYU's Jimmer Fredette, Cal's Allen Crabbe and Oregon State's Jared Cunningham.
On an off-night defensively on Thursday, though, Lee was just about the only offensive factor for the Bruins.
That'll do.
Lee had 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead UCLA to the 64-54 win in front of 7,406 at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins' 14th win in 17 games.
"That was an absolutely huge win for us tonight," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "I was really, really worried about this game, with the emotion of the two games last week (wins over USC and St. John's). I was worried about Oregon."
UCLA needed the continued offensive explosion from Lee - who is averaging 17.3 points over his last six games - as he received little help early in the game.
The crowd was sparse, so the backboards certainly did not appear to be rocking.
Nor did they appear two feet higher or six feet farther back.
But UCLA and Oregon could not hit a pigeon with a bazooka early in their Pac-10 matchup on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion, the game hovering in the 30s with 10 minutes left, the two teams combining to make just 27 of their first 75 shots.
Then the game within the game started and the Bruins made their push, eventually sailing past the Ducks behind Lee and backcourt mates Lazeric Jones and Jerime Anderson.
After UCLA went down by two, 39-37, with 10 minutes, 13 seconds left, Anderson had a quick seven points to spur a 27-15 Bruin run the rest of the way, as the backcourt accounted for 23 of those points.
Anderson and Jones both finished 10 points, and Jones added six assists and three steals, while Anderson added a three assists and a block.
"Sometimes we play in spurts, but when we're on, we're on," Anderson said. "Hopefully we can continue to stay on and not need to worry about getting back on."
The game was eerily reminiscent of the teams' first matchup in mid-January, when Oregon again jumped to an early lead, led by three at halftime and watched UCLA come back.
The only difference?
This time, the Ducks had Joevan Catron.
When the two teams first played, Catron was out with a strained calf muscle, but he made his presence known early on Thursday. Catron had eight first-half points as Oregon jumped to an early eight-point lead.
"He's their best player, their inside threat and a matchup nightmare," Howland said. "He has all sorts of game around the basket - up and under moves, spin - and he's shooting the ball well."
Catron's production was to be expected, though, as he entered the game averaging more than 16 points per game.
Jay-R Strowbridge's performance, though, was a bit more surprising.
Guarded by Lee for much of the game with starting guard Johnathan Loyd sidelined for much of the first half with foul trouble, Strowbridge had 10 points in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting, though he finished with just 14.
"(Malcolm) brings it every night defensively, he's just tremendous," Howland said. "But he made a lot of plays tonight. He made a big three when we were struggling early. This is one of his really big games this year.
"You couldn't be more happy with an individual than I am with Malcolm when he has success."
Another nice win! (I seem to be saying that a lot recently.) Despite trailing in the first half, the Bruins demonstrated poise and never seemed to waver from a confidence that they would overtake and pull away from Oregon. Clear advantage in the post and on the glass, and the offense was run very efficiently inside-out. Lee had a great all around game, Nelson established himself inside, Jones and Anderson were solid in the backcourt. I was also particularly pleased with Honeycutt, who didn't force his game but took what came to him and made his presence felt on the glass and with some good passes.