National Basketball Association
UCLA 102, Michigan 84
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 10, 2016
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
# Eric Curry, # David Hall, # Verne Harris
Attendance:
13571
By The Sports Xchange
LOS ANGELES -- UCLA stayed hot Saturday and Michigan cooled off in the second half as the No. 2 Bruins posted a 102-84 victory over the Wolverines.
Both teams shot better than 60 percent from the field and above 70 percent from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes in a game played before a crowd of 13,571 at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA moved to second in both major polls after defeating previously top-ranked Kentucky 97-92 last Saturday in Lexington. It was the first game for the Bruins (10-0) since the win as they went through finals week.
After intermission, the Bruins gradually took charge in the next six minutes, outscoring the Wolverines 17-7 in that stretch for a 67-57 lead. The closest Michigan got after that was five points, the last time at 77-72 with 8:06 remaining.
"Second half, I think they guarded us a little bit better," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "We ran out of gas in the last seven, eight minutes. We were able to get good looks the first half. We got open looks and they didn't, and we still shot the same."
UCLA steamrolled through the Michigan defense the final eight minutes, getting its lead as large as 20 points in the final minute.
The game also was the first sellout crowd the Bruins have enjoyed at Pauley in the past four seasons. For players from freshman TJ Leaf to senior Bryce Alford, it's the Pauley experience they've dreamed of since arriving in Westwood.
"Credit to all of the fans for coming out," Leaf said. "That hasn't happened in a while in Pauley, so credit to all of them coming out and being able to watch. I think we (put on) a good show for them."
Leaf led five Bruins in double figures with 21 points as the team finished 39 of 58 (67.2 percent) from the field -- with a 20-of-27 showing in the second half. Leaf also had a game-high eight rebounds.
UCLA had 64 possessions, a total that coach Steve Alford said is the lowest the team has had in its first 10 games. The Bruins made the most of their chances by scoring on 44 of those.
"That's how special offensively this team is," Alford said. "Through 10 games, this is as close to a phenomenal offense I can think of in my career as far as a team. They share it. Twenty-three assists again, eight turnovers, we shot the ball at a high level, we took good shots, we didn't take tough ones."
Lonzo Ball (19), Alford (18), Aaron Holiday (17) and Isaac Hamilton (14) also finished in double figures for UCLA.
Zak Irvin led Michigan (7-4) with 18 points. Duncan Robinson added 13 and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Moritz Wagner each had 11.
The first half was a 50-50 draw with one of the best 20 minutes of shooting by both teams in the first month of the season.
Michigan was 19 of 29 (65.5 percent) from the field and 12 of 16 from 3-point range, with its first 18 points coming from beyond the arc.
UCLA was 19 of 31 from the field (61.3 percent) in the first half and 10 of 14 (71.4 percent) from 3-point range.
The Wolverines went on a 15-2 run to take a 48-41 lead 1:22 before halftime on a jumper in the lane by DJ Wilson. The Bruins battled back to tie the score on Ball's fourth 3-pointer of the half five seconds before intermission.
"It got to be a gun-slinging deal in the first half," Alford said. "It continued in the second half. Those are games we like to play in. I think our guys enjoy that. We accustomed to 40 minutes of running and shooting, and I thought our guys handled things really well."
Alford was asked if he thought this is where the Bruins could be 10 games into the season. He said he had a sense it was possible on a trip to Australia during the summer when the Bruins played two of their three exhibition games against professional teams.
"This team could be special because they get it," Alford said. "It's a high basketball IQ group, it's a team that can make shots, it's a team that can pass and dribble it.
"We said if we grew defensively this could be a special team."
NOTES: UCLA has not been ranked as high as No. 2 since Nov. 26, 2007. The Bruins' 10-0 start also is their best since opening the 2006-07 season with 14 consecutive wins. ... Michigan G Derrick Walton Jr. became the 51st Wolverine to reach 1,000 career points by making a free throw with 6:27 left in the game. ... This was the fourth time this season the Bruins scored 100 or more points and the first time since defeating Long Beach State 114-77 on Nov. 20.
Top Game Performances
Michigan |
|
UCLA |
Zak Irvin 18 |
Scoring |
TJ Leaf 21 |
Zak Irvin 7 |
Assists |
Isaac Hamilton 7 |
Zak Irvin 5 |
Rebounds |
TJ Leaf 8 |
Derrick Walton Jr 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Lonzo Ball 5 |
Zak Irvin 3 |
Steals |
Lonzo Ball 3 |
N/A |
Blocks |
Ike Anigbogu 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Michigan
|
84 |
50.0 |
14-26 |
12-13 |
16 |
21 |
0 |
6 |
8 |
UCLA
|
102 |
67.2 |
15-24 |
9-18 |
23 |
29 |
4 |
4 |
8 |