Monthly Archives: February 2012

UCLA takes care of Sun Devils, 66-57

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TEMPE –

For much of UCLA’s Thursday night matchup at Arizona State, the Bruins simply could not stick a fork in the Sun Devils.

UCLA pushed and prodded and Arizona State scratched and clawed.

Ultimately, Lazeric Jones and Joshua Smith finally put the Sun Devils away and the Bruins sauntered to a 66-57 win in front of 5,477 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Jones led all scorers with 20 points in 8-of-15 shooting, taking the game over as the Briuns found Arizona State a tough out. Jones had 13 points in the second half, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, as he finally listed to Ben Howland’s prodding.

Howland said he spoke with Jones about shooting more often, especially after an eight-attempt performance in the Bruins’ three-point loss at St. John’s last Saturday.

“We can’t win without him taking more shot attempts,” Howland said. “Being more aggressive to look to score, especially from three. He was passing up threes to drive to guarded shots. You’re open, you’re a good shooter, you worked your tail off to become a good shooter in the offseason, don’t pass up the threes.”

Jones took over in the second half because, for a while, it did not look like anyone else wanted to.

UCLA went into halftime up just 25-24 on the lowly Sun Devils, done in by Arizona State’s methodical pace. The Sun Devils appeared willing to keep it a low-scoring game for as long as possible, particularly with Smith out of the game with two early first-half fouls.

Smith had eight of his 10 points in 11 second-half minutes, deftly weaving around an Arizona State zone defense that could not find an answer for his size.

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UCLA leads 25-24 at the half

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Offensive basketball took a hiatus in the first half of UCLA’s matchup with Arizona State on Thursday night in Tempe.

The Bruins lead the Sun Devils 25-24, with both teams attempting just 25 shots, UCLA making 11 and ASU making 10.

Neither team gained any real momentum, the largest lead for UCLA just six points late in the half.

Perhaps the most interesting news so far has been the Bruins’ rotation, which has changed up a bit. Sophomore guard Norman Powell got his first start, though he struggled with two turnovers and no poitns in 14 minutes. Anthony Stover played nine first-half minutes as Joshua Smith battled foul trouble.

Lazeric Jones leads UCLA with seven points and David Wear added six for the Bruins.

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