UCLA basketball builds strategy for upcoming road games

UCLA men’s basketball struggled on its first Pac-12 road trip, shooting poorly in a narrow win over Colorado and a five-point loss to Utah. The Bruins will have to figure out how to deal with the challenges faced on the road, as five of their next seven matchups will come in hostile territory.

“Just overall you’re not at home, you don’t have your fans there, you don’t have the momentum on your side that the other team does,” said sophomore guard/forward Kyle Anderson.

But Anderson had a strategy for what his team has to do to win on the road.

“We gotta keep our composure,” Anderson said. “Basketball is a big game of runs, so you’re gonna go on your run. You can’t lose focus after that; the other team’s gonna go on their run. Keep your eyes on winning the game.”

The loss to Utah came on a Saturday following Thursday’s game against Colorado. After the loss, coach Steve Alford pointed to that quick turnaround as a factor in the loss, as he said the team could have used more time to prepare. Alford will get his wish this weekend, as the second game of the road trip against Oregon State will come a day later, on Sunday.
“Yeah that helps out a lot. That extra day is huge,” Anderson said. “Some people say one day of rest doesn’t really make a difference but it does. It’s a tough schedule. … It’s a lot to turn around and bounce back too soon, so it’s big for us.”

The extra day of rest does nothing to change the team’s mindset heading into the weekend.

“It’s all about just going over there and handling business,” Anderson said. “It’s a business trip.”