Postgame Talk: UCLA Gets Defensive in Win Over Lehigh
The Bruins abused the Mountain Hawks on the interior as one would expect.
I assume I was one of the few people who watched the UCLA basketball game tonight. But, to be fair, I also have season tickets so I was able to stream the football game while inside Pauley Pavilion.
If you did not watch this game, have no fear: you did not miss much. The Bruins had a huge size advantage going into this one, and that mostly played out over the course of the game, as UCLA bludgeoned Lehigh on the interior en route to an 85-45 victory.
Coach Mick Cronin clearly had a plan in this game for the Bruins to attack the Mountain Hawks on the interior, and that’s exactly what happened. UCLA scored 46 points in the paint while adding another 20 from the line, as Lehigh just had no answer for UCLA’s (relative given what we know) size in this game. The Bruins shot 55% from the field in this one, a testament to how many easy looks they had on the interior, and continued their early run of unselfish play with 14 assists on the night.
On the flip side, Lehigh was forced into outside shooting for most of the game, with only 14 points in the paint. The Mountain Hawks did not fare well on offense at all, shooting only 29% from the field, and there were more than a few airballs from Lehigh players. Keith Higgins did end up scoring a decent amount of points, but it was on an inefficient 6-17 shooting night, and the Bruins forced a lot of poor shots from the less-heralded members of the Mountain Hawks roster.
If there is something to take away from this game, it is that UCLA finally did what they were supposed to do on the glass. UCLA out-rebounded Lehigh by a total of 47-18, with the Mountain Hawks only grabbing four offensive rebounds compared to the 36 defensive rebounds the Bruins grabbed, while on the flip side, UCLA grabbed almost as many offensive rebounds (11) as Lehigh had defensive rebounds (14). This is exactly what I wanted to see from this game, with UCLA showing it can out-muscle a smaller opponent, and I will say the effort on the defensive glass was much better than it has been all season.
I also want to shout out Aday Mara, who continues to look much improved in his second season in Westwood. Mara is moving more fluid while he’s on the floor, and is looking much more comfortable on both ends of the court. Lehigh was never going to have an answer for Mara’s size, but to see him still dominate while on the court to the tune of 16 points (second on the team behind Eric Dailey Jr.) and six rebounds in 13 minutes was a welcome sight. Mara even got a technical for hanging on the rim after a dunk, and the fact that he was even in that position is cause for celebration.
Also: players should get to hang on the rim after sick dunks. I will not be taking questions at this time.
If you were looking for negatives, you could point to UCLA’s continuing poor shooting, but at the same time the Bruins shot 40% from deep in the first half, and the second half was eaten up by Cronin trying to get the bench shooters like Dominick Harris on track. Harris did finally hit a three in this one, and hopefully, that gets him to stop pressing a bit offensively, but at this point, I still believe in the track record of Harris as a shooter that things will click sooner than later.
The real takeaway, if anything, is that UCLA did what it was supposed to against an outmatched opponent and didn’t suffer a freak injury. On to the next one.
Go Bruins!
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