Blue Devils dominate Bruins in second half
Sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson had six turnovers in UCLA’s loss to Duke, as the Blue Devils’ aggressive play caused problems for the Bruins in the second half.
By Andrew Erickson
Dec. 19, 2013 9:05 p.m.
NEW YORK—It was a perfect storyline.
Sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson was set to make his grand return to Madison Square Garden just over a Lincoln Tunnel’s ride away from where he played his high school basketball.
Redshirt senior forward David Wear was going to come out of nowhere and lead the Bruins with a ferocious scoring effort, and Steve Alford was going to notch his first marquee win as UCLA’s 13th head coach over No. 8 Duke.
But on Thursday night, Duke mandated an entirely different plot. The welcome mat was yanked out from underneath Anderson in front of a crowd of over 15,000 that was dominated by Duke faithful. Alford’s Bruins fought to a score of 37-all at the break but fell short as Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski improved his record over UCLA to 8-1 in an 80-63 Blue Devil victory.
As for Wear, the redshirt senior did have his most prolific shooting performance of the season. Heading into the game, Wear had converted just four of his eight three-point attempts; on Thursday night, he shot a perfect 4-of-4 from deep en route to a team-high 16 points.
But even with Wear’s scoring surge, the Bruins were upstaged on their biggest stage of the season by a freshman. Duke (9-2) forward Jabari Parker came into the game averaging 22 points per game and carrying the hype of a potential No. 1 overall draft pick. Thursday merely added to his legacy as the 6-foot-8, 235-pound first-year jumped, drove and shot his way to what looked like a pedestrian 23 points and 10 rebounds.
“In different sports there are people who are naturals,” Krzyzewski said. “Jabari is a natural. And he has to learn how to use all that even better. He’s not afraid of the moment. He embraces the moment.”
The Bruins owned their moment throughout much of the first half. With the Madison Square Garden crowd at its loudest and Duke leading by 10, UCLA punched back with an 11-2 run. In the second half, however, the Bruins (9-2) gave away their chance at a comeback in the form of eight turnovers. For the third game in a row, the Bruins were outscored in the final 20 minutes, watching as Parker dunked UCLA’s night away.
“We’ve got to do a better job as coaches of just making sure that the toughness and that kind of spirit is happening through 40 minutes,” Alford said. “We’ve got a very talented basketball team that for whatever reason the last 10-14 days, we’re not putting together very good second halves.”
The talent wasn’t missing on the floor for the Bruins, and they even rebounded better, improving in an area that plagued them in their loss to Missouri two weeks ago. Absent, though, were the catalysts to stage a second-half fight.
A normally electric freshman guard, Zach LaVine was held to just seven points. The Bruins’ most reliable scorer, sophomore guard Jordan Adams, was pressured to the point of notching a season-low 10. Even Anderson’s “slow-mo” style of running the point was thrown off-kilter by Duke point guard Quinn Cook, who was relentless for all 40 minutes and came away with eight steals.
“Like every Duke team, Quinn Cook did a very good job of pressuring the ball on (freshman guard) Bryce (Alford) and myself,” Anderson said. “That 94-foot pressure is tough. I mean, they got into us, which forced us to not execute on offense.”
As conference play nears, the Bruins carry the uncertainty of having missed the mark against their two most talented opponents, as well as the resume blemishes that come with it.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on,” Anderson said. “That’s why I’m not the coach. It’s obviously something. I think us players trust the coaching staff enough that they’re going to let us know what’s going on in the second half, and we’ve just got to fix it.”
