UCLA Basketball Score Update: Bruins Lead CSUN At the Half, 38-24

Richard Mackson-US PRESSWIRE

UCLA has gotten to off to a quick start to their Wednesday night tilt with the Cal State Northridge Matadors, leading CSU by a score of 38-24.

The Bruins needed to fix quite a few things after an embarrassing loss to Cal Poly, and have addressed a lot of the issues since then. First off, UCLA started the game off in a 2-3 zone, the first time the Bruins employed the defense to start off a game.

Meanwhile, the offense has done a ridiculous amount of pushing, playing at an unbelievable pace led on fast-breaks by the likes of Kyle Anderson and Shabazz Muhammad.

Muhammad leads UCLA in scoring with 11 points off of eight shots after a rough start which saw him go 0-for-4 out of the gates to go along with a pair of turnovers.

Kyle Anderson, however, has largely been UCLA’s most effective player, earning eight points off of 66 percent shooting to go along with six boards, three steals, two blocks and an assist. Anderson began the game playing the power forward position in place of the limited David Wear, who saw playing time but went 1-for-5 from the floor.

UCLA’s three-point defense is still atrocious, however, allowing CSUN 16 three-point shots, many of them being open. Northridge is not a shooting team, however, and as a result, the Bruins have benefited from the Matadors knocking in only three shots from downtown, although UCLA has held them to 30 percent shooting overall.

Let’s see if the Bruins can keep up the momentum and close out the game, in contrast to the Cal Poly game in which UCLA gave up second-half 18-point lead.