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UCLA v. ASU

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Photo by Andrew Hsieh

Sophomore Russell Westbrook and the No. 5 men’s basketball team rolled over a struggling Arizona State team, 84-51. Westbrook finished the game with 10 points, four steals and one blocked shot. The Bruins face Arizona on Saturday at home.

Heading into the UCLA men’s basketball team’s game against Arizona State, there was one line of thinking that suggested the Bruins might struggle against the Sun Devils’ zone defense.

Before game time, it wasn’t a completely unreasonable theory. UCLA had struggled against zone defenses in the past, and Arizona State has overacheived this year under first-year coach Herb Sendek. Sendek’s zone defense is a big reason why.

But when it came time to put that theory into play, the Sun Devils didn’t stand a chance.

No. 5 UCLA (19-2, 7-1 Pac-10) had few problems on the offensive – or defensive – end against Arizona State (14-6, 4-4 Pac-10), easily dispatching the Sun Devils 84-51. The win was the Bruins’ most lopsided since Pac-10 play began, and it keeps them in sole possession of first place in the conference.

“(We played) exceptionally at both ends,” coach Ben Howland said. “I thought we beat a very good team ... (but) our play was exceptional.”

A big component of that was the Bruins’ ability to dissect the Sun Devils’ zone. From the opening tip, the Bruins’ guards played carefully and unselfishly, repeatedly driving from the perimeter, then pulling up short to pass to wide open shooters or post players.

“Everybody had open looks, but it was our extra passes that got things moving,” junior guard Darren Collison said. “They were really jumping out at us, so we had good shot fakes that got guys open. ... It was a straight clinic out there.”

Collison and sophomore guard Russell Westbrook did an excellent job of distributing the ball, combining for 16 assists against only one turnover.

Many of those passes went to junior guard/forward Josh Shipp, who had a strong performance after struggling to shoot the ball during the Bruins’ games against the Oregon schools last weekend. Shipp finished with a game-high 21 points, and shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

“I had a bad weekend (in Oregon),” Shipp said. “I went back to the lab, just kept shooting, working on a few things to try to get the kinks out.”

Howland broke from his regular starting lineup, opting to start Westbrook over junior forward Alfred Aboya. The smaller lineup paid off, helping the Bruins to race out to a big lead over the Sun Devils. UCLA led 15-4 six minutes into the game and had widened the lead to 27-10 just over halfway through the first half.

“I wanted to attack the zone early in this game with efficiency,” Howland said. “(We started) our best five players from the standpoint of attacking the zone offensively.”

UCLA dealt Arizona State a particularly back-breaking blow late in the half. With just under three and a half minutes left before half time, Kevin Love found himself deep in the left corner, in front of the Arizona State bench and well outside his usual territory in the post. The freshman nailed a long 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of a Sun Devil defender to stretch UCLA’s lead to 39-22.

Before the fans in Pauley Pavilion even had time to quiet themselves, Collison stole the ensuing inbounds pass. He pumped the ball once – as if almost thinking better of it – then drained a 3-pointer from almost the same spot Love had.

As the crowd roared, Sendek had no choice but to call a time-out.

“That really broke it open for us there,” Howland said. “I don’t know if we ever really looked back from that point.”

Lost in the Bruins’ offensive display was the team’s defense, which looked much more solid than it did two weeks ago when UCLA struggled to contain USC’s athletic frontcourt. Gone were the easy layups and dunks, and at times Arizona State’s Princeton offense hardly seemed able to find the basket with a protractor and a slide rule.

“It’s always (our) team defense,” Howland said. “That was one of the best defensive jobs that we’ve done all year on the opposing team’s leading scorer. It was good pressure on the ball, and everything works together.”

But as solidly as the Bruins were defensively, the way they played offensively may prove just as important as they look ahead to the rest of the season. Howland expects to see more zone defenses as his team moves into the second half of Pac-10 play and beyond.

“That’s the best we’ve attacked the zone in five years since I’ve been here at UCLA, by far,” he said. “That’s exciting because we’re going to see more zones, and I think it gives us more confidence. If you’re a player, you want teams to zone you. It’s fun.”