UCLA survives Stanford, 69-65
PALO ALTO -
Maybe all UCLA needed was a little quiet.
In a sparsely filled and nearly silent Maples Pavilion for much of the game's 40 minutes, the Bruins relied on drastically improved long-range shooting to defeat Stanford on Thursday night, 69-65, their 10th win in 11 games and 16th in 19.
The Bruins, who had been shooting just 32.5 percent as a team from 3-point range, made nine-of-17 3-pointers for the game and six-of-11 in the first half to jump to a 36-29 halftime lead.
"We're getting better; we're 18-0 with a 10-point lead," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "I know we're great for television. This is a great team for TV ratings. And keeping the fans involved for the sponsors all the way till the very end. So I think we should get some accommodation for that."
UCLA's outside shooting made it appear that the Bruins would cruise to an easy victory in Palo Alto.
Par for the course, turnovers assured a rougher finish.
The Bruins committed 16 turnovers, including 11 in the first half, as Stanford kept it close. Late-game long-range shooting made it even closer, as Stanford guard Jeremy Green hit two crucial 3-pointers in the final minute to close UCLA's lead to 66-62 with 1 minute, 10 seconds left.
But a Green turnover with 31.6 seconds left and three free-throws down the stretch by Reeves Nelson iced the game for the Bruins.
It was a surprising turn of events for UCLA - free throws icing the win - as the Bruins made just five-of-11 at one point as the Cardinal stayed in the game.
"We just have to do a better job at the foul line," Howland said. "We missed some foul shots late in the game. I thought Reeves did a great job stepping up."
With the Bruins leading 45-32 with 14 minutes, 48 seconds left, a mini-run by Stanford cut the UCLA lead to six once more, Jeremy Green doing much of the damage with two outside shots including a 3-pointer, but UCLA regained its offensive composure behind Nelson, Smith and Jones.
Nelson's driving layup was followed by a Jones 3-pointer off a beautiful pass from Nelson, and then Smith went to work.
Smith had two offensive rebounds, drew a foul, made one-of-two free throws then came back on the defensive end and swatted a shot that led to a Nelson layup.
UCLA now led 57-41, its biggest lead of the game.
"We've played almost 30 games, played against a lot of teams we've already played, and bad teams will let runs affect them," Smith said. "We already knew this was going to a game of runs. They made their run, and we had to just had to make our moves."
Smith finished with 13 points, nine rebounds - including five offensive - two blocks and a steal, while Nelson added 18 points and seven rebounds, as the Bruins won the battle of the boards, 35-26. Sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt added 16 points but five turnovers and junior point guard Lazeric Jones had nine points, six rebounds and four assists.
"We had pretty balanced scoring tonight," Nelson said. "We were shooting well in the first half, then in the second half they tried to focus on it, so it helped to have me and Josh and we just tried to go to work."
The Bruins had particular trouble with Stanford's Green on Thursday, as he exploded in the second half for 21 points, finishing with nine-of-16 shooting and five-of-eight 3-pointers. The Cardinal also got 15 points from guard Anthony Brown and 12 points from Josh Owens in losing their second straight game.
"Man, he's such a great shooter," Nelson said. "It's crazy how you can say he's a good shooter, and Malcolm 'held' him to 27. It was the same way with (BYU guard Jimmer Fredette); he just has such a good release. (Lee) tried to make things difficult for him, but with a person who's that good of a player, sometimes you just have to accept it and try to do what you can to get ahead."
I think this was one of the Bruins' best games of the year especially in the second half. Yes Stanford closed the gap at the end but only because they hit some difficult desperation 3s to close out the game. Overall, the defense was superb and offense run very efficiently with Stanford scrambling to recover to the open man. Much fewer turnovers in the second half. About the only thing I could ask for is a little better free throw shooting at the end, but really UCLA was in control of this game the entire second half. Very nice win in a building that has been difficult to win in even for the best of Bruin teams. Big kudos to CBH for guiding this young team that is maturing before our eyes.
Agree with Lifelong Bruin Fan above. The final score will not blow you away, but really a solid game from our Bruins from start to finish. Free throws could have been better FOR sure, but on the flip side, they also could have been worse. No one player really jumped out in this game, rather, it was a true team effort.
1 more win away from 20! Let's finish this regular season strong. Toughest part of our schedule is now upon us. Cal IS tough at home - THEY always get up for playing against the Bruins. Was hoping Cal would have beaten suc, cuz, well, it's suc, but also because I don't want Cal to be in a more "desperate" situation to win. Hope our guys focus on this game instead of looking ahead to AZ.
Sorry, but I think "UCLA Survives Stanford" is just a bit misleading as we basically controlled the whole game. Sure they buried 2 desperate 3 pointers and we missed key free throws at the end but, come on! The headline implies so much more than what actually happened. Did the headline writer see the same game?
Yup, saw the game.
Great game. Turnovers were still and issue. As someone who doesn't get to watch many UCLA games because they are out of market, I am impressed at how much they have improved. Compared to early in the season, they are making the extra passes, Smith isn't getting into early foul trouble, etc.
The Stanford game was no exception, they controlled the whole way. Even when Stanford made a run at them, UCLA didn't really break down. It was simply a matter of UCLA not making their shots and Stanford hitting an impressive string of 3's.
I'm feeling more confident about UCLA's chances in the tournament. This is a very different team than we had at the start of the season.
There has to be some kind of emphasis on the "nearly silent Maples Pavilion" in your blog post. I was at Maples and, man, the place was worse than the Pauley. I was doing some yelling in support for the team and, I swear, my voice kind of echoed in that building.
Last night was a good win, and, I would have to agree with Rich's statement that the team didn't really survive a scare. Team was in control from the tip-off. The only thing I could say is that it lost some focus at times (turnovers, ill-advised shots) which led to some unnecessary stressful situations.
They almost blew a 16 point lead so I agree with the headline writer. Why do the Bruins keep blowing big leads? Better free throwing might help.