UCLA Bruins Cruise to Victory over UC Berkeley, 76-56
The Bruins raced out to an early lead they would never relinquish.
I will be honest upfront and state that I don’t have much to say about this game.
Let’s start with some of the basic information. The UCLA Bruins, picked by the media to win the Pac-12 Conference, went into their first conference game against UC Berkeley and put on a basketball clinic, using a combination of excellent defense and solid offense to race out to a double-digit lead that they would never relinquish, ultimately winning by the final score of 76-56.
That really does describe this game. At the 13:11 mark of the first half, Berkeley guard Dimitrios Klonaras (who I must note I am legally obligated to root for just due to his name) made a layup to cut the UCLA lead to 5. The Bears would not make another basket until the 6:40 mark when Ryan Betley hit a three-pointer to cut UCLA’s lead to *checks notes* 17. That UCLA run, featuring three-pointers from David Singleton and Chris Smith, essentially put the game away and turned the second half into little more than an extended scrimmage. Berkeley would occasionally cut into the lead, getting things as close as 12 points a few times, but UCLA would always have an answer ready.
The Bruins dominated in all facets of the game. They won the rebounding battle by a convincing 31-22 and had an astounding 23 assists compared to a paltry 11 from the Bears. The Bruin defense forced 15 Berkeley turnovers, including grabbing six steals. Interestingly enough, UCLA did not get a block in this game, though considering the Bruins outscored the Bears 32-18 in the paint, it felt clear that Berkeley’s game plan was not to work inside against Jalen Hill (this is further supported by Berkeley launching 26 three-point attempts, only hitting nine of them).
There isn’t even much to nitpick here for UCLA. Consider the offense, for example - the Bruins shot worse in the second half, but considering they shot an astonishing 69.6% in the first half, you could have guaranteed that they would shoot worse, and the Bruins still shot 51.9% in the second half to end the game at a ridiculous 60% shooting from the field. Or you could get at the defense for letting up a bit in the second half, but there was also no need to be as aggressive defensively when sitting on that big of a lead. The biggest nitpick I could have is to question why UCLA is playing guys 30+ minutes in a blowout victory, but I can understand the idea due to the shortened schedule and preseason.
Maybe the best sign for UCLA was how improved the offense looked in general. This was Chris Smith’s best game of the young season by far, going off for 21 points on an efficient 7-12 shooting night. The most impressive thing for Smith was watching him correct mistakes in real-time - Smith raced out to an early four turnovers in the first half, but did not commit another turnover for the rest of the game. Tyger Campbell had a great night as well, putting up 11 points on 5-7 shooting while dishing out an insane 12 assists. David Singleton had a get-right game, hitting all four of his shots, including all three from distance.
All of which to say, this was an excellent win over a conference opponent. The Bruins have responded well to the struggles of the opening weekend, once-again looking like the squad that took the conference by storm to end last season. The scary thing is: this team still has another gear to hit, especially once Johnny Juzang returns from injury (and it was encouraging to see him going through warm-ups today, so he could be close to making his debut).
Chris Smith led the Bruins with 21 points. Jalen Hill led the team with seven rebounds, while Tyger Campbell led the team with 12 assists. Makale Foreman led the Golden Bears with 14 points.
Three Takeaways
Player of the Game: Chris Smith - Honestly, there are a few guys I could have gone with, but Smith set the tone early with his excellent offensive play, and that combined with the resurgent UCLA defense to put the game away early. Smith came into the season hyped up as UCLA’s best player and a preseason All-Conference selection, so it’s good to see him start to round into form.
Area to improve: free-throw shooting? - To be fair, UCLA’s FT shooting was not good in this game, but no one outside of Smith is really getting to the line with any consistency yet, and Smith went 4-5 from the line in this one. Jaime Jaquez has been the biggest offender from the line, and he’s normally good, so I’m going to assume he picks things up soon.
A happy return for Bill Walton - After having to listen to Don MacLean rattle off utter nonsense while being completely serious the past few games, it was a relief to get Bill back in the booth. Walton was a bit more subdued than usual, and his mask-wearing did muffle him slightly, but I enjoy Walton on commentary more than anything else, so consider me satisfied.
UCLA next plays on Wednesday, when they host San Diego University.
Go Bruins!
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Walton a terrific commentator
It won't be good for San Diego on Wednesday, IMO. UCLA is rolling now.