No. 2 UCLA looks to ramp up defense today
UCLA’s game against Long Beach State Monday night was as cliché as it gets.
Just two days after a sold-out crowd packed Pauley Pavilion for the Bruins’ overtime win over fourth-ranked Villanova, in trotted Long Beach State, a Big West Conference team that keeps the same company as Cal State Bakersfield — a team the second-ranked Bruins trounced in their home opener.
The hangover from the Villanova victory was obvious, but UCLA avoided being the big topic of sports talk Tuesday morning with a 100-79 win over Long Beach. The Bruins held just a 48-45 lead at halftime before imposing their and forcing 14 LBSU turnovers in the second half.
However, the standards of performance were not met, according to UCLA coach Mick Cronin and players Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard. The feel of the press conference was as if the team lost.
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Today: North Florida at UCLA, 7:30p.m., Pac-12Network
“We have a team where everyone is returning, so we know the level that we’re capable of playing at,” Juzang said. “So, just winning a game isn’t always going to satisfy us. It’s how you performed. You know when you’ve made too many mistakes.”
That focus is likely to recalibrate when UCLA (3-0) hosts its fourth consecutive home game tonight against North Florida (0-4) at 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
Don’t let North Florida’s winless record fool you. Its losses are to Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Grand Canyon and, most recently, Arizona State 72-63 on Monday.
UCLA’s defensive lapse against Long Beach State was largely its inability to contain Joel Murray (30 points) and Colin Slater (27). North Florida guard Jose Placer scored 25 points against Arizona State, so the Bruins might key on him Wednesday
night to prove they can contain a good scorer.
“When you let good players get started, giving them layups, the basket gets bigger,” Cronin said. “We don’t have a lot of great one-one-one (defensive) players. We have to play team defense. The answer is team defense.”
Scouting North Florida
Forward Carter Hendricksen has been North Florida’s leading scorer for three consecutive seasons, and is scoring 15 points per game this year. The Ospreys finished 8-15 last season, 6-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Placer is the team’s second-leading scorer, and only other player averaging double digits at a clip of 11.5 points per game.
Look for UCLA to dominate the glass. The Bruins average 40 rebounds per game to North Florida’s 27.5.
The Ospreys aren’t shy when it comes to playing in step-up games during nonconference play. Last year, they played at North Carolina State, at Miami and at Florida State.