UCLA Basketball Wrecked Cal, 86-66

Feb 19, 2014; Berkeley, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Jordan Adams (3) pushes the ball up the court against the California Golden Bears during the second half at Haas Pavilion. The UCLA Bruins defeated the California Golden Bears 86-66. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Well I guess the headline of this game should be “Shocker”, but in reality it is more like, “They Did Whaaaaa?”

The UCLA Bruins (21-5, 10-3) had not won a game in Berkeley in several years, but came into Haas Pavilion and dismantled Cal (17-9, 8-5) and their prestigious home record.

In a previous article for GoJoeBruin.com, we had talked about how UCLA has had some trends as of late.  One of the most prominent trends was that UCLA has had less than spectacular first halves, followed by a demolition, if you will, of their opponent in the second half. And trying to be as nice as we can, UCLA destroyed, wrecked, beat, embarrassed, belittled and utterly gutted the efforts of the California Golden Bears.

At one point in this game, you realized UCLA had the upper hand. Shortly after that, you realized that UCLA was clearly dominating Cal. Moments after that, you realized the UCLA Bruins came into Haas with a mission: to obliterate the next Pac-12 opponent, the California Golden Bears basketball program.

The cheers from the Cal faithful came early and often, but that did not deter the Bruins from showing them who is the most dominant basketball program the state of California.

Feb 19, 2014; Berkeley, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Jordan Adams (3) reacts after scoring a basket against the California Golden Bears during the second half at Haas Pavilion. The UCLA Bruins defeated the California Golden Bears 86-66. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The majority of the credit has to be given to Jordan Adams. During the Pac-12 network’s pregame coverage, they commented on how Adams had had a less than a welcoming game last season during his freshman year. Throw that in with the recent slump that has been affecting his game and you have one pissed off basketball player on the verge of doing something pretty crazy. Adams finished the game with 28 points. On the road. In a very hostile environment. He was insane!

Do you remember Kevin Love playing his only game at Oregon? It was kind of like that.

There was plenty of defense to be had as well as the Bruins held the Golden Bears 39.3% shooting in the first half. At halftime, the bloodletting had already presented itself as Cal was down 44-32. The second half was more of a dominant display of late season chemistry that we have seen emerge from UCLA lately. The Bruins had it all going for them.

Bryce Alford, who has not been doing so hot in road games, got 8 points. Zach LaVine who has been in a funk recently, got 9 points. But the most telling event was when 13-point performer Travis Wear did this…

Sign o’the times. #BruinRevolution

Mike W.R.

Twitter: @TheBigDisco