Afflalo overcomes offensive slump

Following Thursday night’s victory over Arizona State,
Arron Afflalo appeared to breathe a little easier. He smiled a
little wider. He seemed, in a word, relieved. That’s what a
15-point second half will do for a player, especially one who had
been struggling offensively for several weeks. “I have
slumps, but I’m not supposed to acknowledge that,” said
the sophomore guard, who finished the game with 17 points.
“The greatest players in the history of the game don’t
ever consider themselves in a slump. If they miss a shot, they miss
a shot. They’re knocking down the next one.” Prior to
Thursday’s game, Afflalo had struggled mightily on the
offensive end in UCLA’s three previous games. He hadn’t
shot above 30 percent from the field, and he hadn’t scored
more than 12 points. Worse than that, he was forcing unnecessary
shots. In the second half against the Sun Devils, Afflalo let the
game come to him. He shot 4-for-6 from the field, 2-for-3 from the
3-point line and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. “I
don’t want to be passive, but I don’t want to start
hunting shots to the point where I’m going to hurt the
team,” he said. “You kind of saw a taste of that when
we were in Oregon. I was kind of hunting shots a little bit, and
that’s out of my character.” Coach Ben Howland was
certainly happy with what he saw Thursday from his leading scorer
and best defender. “I thought it was great,” Howland
said. “I’m not surprised by it. He’s back on the
upswing now.” In addition to his 17 points, Afflalo had six
rebounds and once again held the opponent’s leading scorer
far under his average. Arizona State guard Kevin Kruger, who came
in averaging 14.9 points per game, finished with eight points on
just two field goals. Afflalo was guarding Kruger for only one of
those field goals. “He does so many things to make his team
win,” Howland said. “It’s not just about his
scoring ““ he does it all. He rebounds, he defends ““
he’s playing great.” After each of Afflalo’s two
3-pointers in the second half, the student section erupted by
chanting his name. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed. “If
there’s any way I can give them credit, I would love
that,” he said. “They’re meaning a lot to me
right now, showing they have my back.”

LOOKING AHEAD: It’s hard to ignore what’s happening
with Arizona these days. Following a 77-70 loss to USC on Thursday
night at the Sports Arena, the Wildcats are 13-8 (6-4 Pac-10) and
in real danger of missing out on the NCAA Tournament. But Arizona
remains a dangerous team, and the Bruins are on full alert.
“I expect them to come out real tough,” sophomore point
guard Jordan Farmar said. “They lost one to USC, and
they’re not going to want to get swept on this trip. The last
time we played them we got them at their place, and they’re
going to come with a vengeance.” UCLA beat Arizona 85-79 when
the teams met Jan. 5. “If they had won tonight’s game
or not, we’re still the No. 1 team in the conference,”
Afflalo said. “We’re always going to be
hunted.”

DRIBBLERS: Senior center Michael Fey played 27 seconds Thursday
night. He grabbed two rebounds and scored two points on a tip-in.
… Though the numbers suggest he should perhaps show some
discretion, freshman forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute once again
proved he isn’t too bashful to launch open 3-pointers. He was
0-for-3 from 3-point land Thursday night, and is 4-for-28 on
3-point attempts for the season. … UCLA shot 15-for-25 from the
free throw line. It’s the third straight game the Bruins have
been under 70 percent from the charity stripe.