The Associated Press UCLA’s Andre
Patterson, right, is tied up by Houston’s George
Williams after grabbing a rebound in the first half of the
game, Monday. UCLA 71 Houston 60
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
MAUI “”mdash; The impossible happened on Monday night.
A UCLA basketball team lived up to the hype.
After the No. 5 Bruins’ commanding 71-60 victory in the
fourth game of the Maui Invitational, UCLA was the only team at the
tournament to defeat their opponent the way they were
“supposed” to.
With freshman Cedric Bozeman back in the starting lineup for the
Bruins, UCLA coasted through the first half leading for all but
three minutes.
But the game wasn’t a total breeze.
With 16:45 left in the game, center Dan Gadzuric fell to the
floor after tipping in a pass from Matt Barnes for two points.
The grimace on his face didn’t bode well for the rest of
the season.
But it turned out to be just a sprained ankle. And as anyone who
follows Bruin hoops knows, an ankle sprain isn’t going to
keep Gadzuric out of the game.
Having suffered the same injury against DePaul in February,
Gadzuric returned to UCLA’s lineup against Arizona and led
UCLA to the 79-77 overtime victory with his 22 points and 17
rebounds.
Staying true to history, Gadzuric returned to the game just five
minutes after hobbling out of the gym, though he is questionable
for Tuesday’s game.
During the first half the two teams played evenly, with the
Bruins shooting 44.4 percent and Houston 43.5.
“We really didn’t play very well in the first
half,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said. “There were
stretches where we went too fast, but that happens in your first
game of the year.”
But in the second half, UCLA wore the Cougars out by giving nine
players at least 12 minutes each.
“They were able to wear us down with their depth and
pressure,” Houston head coach Roy McCallum said. “Steve
(Lavin) is doing a smart thing at playing that talent.”
In particular, the Bruins pressured Dominic Smith, the
Cougar’s main ball-handler.
“Our press set tone for the second half,” Barnes
said. “We had two guys on him, and I was talking to him the
whole time.
“I know what that can to a player. It’s hard to try
to break a press for 40 minutes,” he added.
Kapono tallied a game-high 16 points, including four
three-pointers, while Barnes finished with 13 points and a
career-high 12 rebounds. Bozeman chipped in 13 points of his
own.
The Bruin’s next game is 6:30 p.m. PST Tuesday against
Ball State who upset Kansas.
“Playing UCLA will be the same thing as today,”
forward Theron Smith said, referring to Ball State’s game
against Kansas. “We just have to come out and play
confident.”