Men’s basketball avenges earlier loss against Colorado with 72-59 win

Earlier in the week, sophomore guard Bryce Alford said he felt that UCLA should have won its initial meeting with Colorado on Jan. 2.

Poor shooting and turnovers prevented the Bruins from doing so.

On Saturday, those two facets of the game gave UCLA the victory.

Senior guard Norman Powell led the way with 22 points and five steals as UCLA forced 15 turnovers and returned the favor, smothering Colorado 72-59.

Initially, the Bruins’ throwback jerseys were the only good-looking aspect of a sloppily played first half.

UCLA (13-9, 5-4 Pac-12) struggled to defend the perimeter early on as Colorado’s (11-10, 4-5) first three baskets of the night came via open looks from beyond the arc.

But UCLA quickly regained the form of the stingy, opportunistic defense that catalyzed its upset of No. 11 Utah on Thursday.

“I think the difference in our defense the last two games is that we’ve contested shots,” said coach Steve Alford. “I thought our zone bothered Utah. So that’s something we have to continue to work on. The mixing of defense is something this defense likes to do.”

Only two Buffs – sophomore forward Tre’Shaun Fletcher and junior guard Xavier Talton – scored for Colorado in the game’s opening 10 minutes, while the Bruins’ defense held Askia Booker to just two points in the first half. The senior guard netted 43 points in Colorado’s triple overtime win over USC on Thursday.

“He’s a really good transition player, we tried to cup him, on screens I tried to get into him,” said sophomore guard Isaac Hamilton. “Basically just playing hard, trying to out work him, denying him the ball, just making it tough as possible (for him).”

Booker finished with 16 points on 6-15 shooting, while the Bruins held the Buffs’ third leading scorer this season, Xavier Johnson, scoreless in a 0-7 effort from the field.

UCLA entered halftime with a 27-23 lead after holding Colorado to just 30.8 percent shooting in the half and two points in the final 4:41. The lead could have been larger had UCLA not committed five turnovers during a sluggish initial period that saw the two squads combine for 12 giveaways, nine fouls and 19-53 shooting.

Not much changed initially out of the break, as the Buffs tied the game at 33 apiece with 15:50 to play.

UCLA responded by sticking to what it knows best: attacking the paint. Eight of the Bruins’ first nine made shots came inside, highlighted by a slam dunk from Powell that brought the Pauley Pavilion crowd to its feet and the UCLA lead to 48-37 with 9:32 to play.

Powell topped 20 points for the third consecutive game on an efficient 7-11 shooting from the field, though he credited his offensive outburst to the Bruins’ work on the defensive end.

“When we execute on defense, it opens up everything. It relaxes everybody,” Powell said. “We are playing with more flow on offense and we’re able to get out in transition and play to everybody’s strength.”

For UCLA, that means playing in the paint, where the Bruins were dominant on both ends. UCLA outscored Colorado 36-20 down low.

But while Powell’s dunk may have stole the show, UCLA’s defense sealed the deal. After making its first three shots of the half, Colorado proceeded to miss 15 of its next 17 and shot 36.4 percent for the game.

“We really focused on making them stand around on offense and work with an NBA shot clock, making them press and rush their shots,” Powell said. “Even when they got open looks, they weren’t really open because they were rushing them due to our pressure.”

Now it is UCLA with an open look, as the Bruins’ stellar effort on defense has buoyed their tournament hopes. The task now is to keep that going on the road, where UCLA is 1-5.

“We just have to focus more as a team on the road,” Powell said. “I think this home stand is really going to help us this week with our effort level and trusting one another.”