Pac-12 Tournament: UCLA Bruins Destroy Stanford, 84-59

Mar 14, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Travis Wear (24, left) grabs a rebound against Stanford Cardinal forward Josh Huestis (24) during the first half in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Conference college basketball tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The #2 UCLA Bruins defeated the #6 Stanford Cardinal, 84-59 in the second semifinal game of the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. From start to finish, this was a contest dominated by the hunger Bruins. After losing in an effortless affair at Stanford in their last meeting, UCLA had something to prove with this victory.

The game started very much in favor of the Bruins. Four minutes in to the game, UCLA had built a 14-2 lead. Shots were coming early and often for the Bruins, which was the complete opposite for Stanford. The Cardinal looked to be taking a lot of good looks, with nothing falling and nothing to show for it.

The Bruins had taken hold of the lead and held Stanford at bay for the majority of the half. When the Cardinal did strike, the Bruins had an answer of their own. Stanford fought back and got back to within fifteen points at the 4:40 mark, when they trailed 35-20, but that was about all they could muster for the rest of game.

As he did in the quarterfinal game against Oregon, Travis Wear got the Bruins going with some out of character game play that shocked the Cardinal. Basically, he was on fire. At halftime, Wear already had 12 points.

When a Wear is scoring on you, you know you are in trouble. UCLA had a 44-29 lead at the half.

As for the telling first half stats:

Shooting:

UCLA: 18-29, 62.1%

Stanford: 11-27, 40.7%

At the start of the second half, Stanford tried to chip away at the Bruin lead, with some minimal success. After trading the first few baskets, UCLA started to pull ahead again. Stanford would make a push, but the Bruins would push back even harder. UCLA increased their lead to 20 at the 16:52 mark with the score, 51-31.

It was apparent early that UCLA wanted this game more. They were causing shot clock violations, diving on the floor for loose ball and even rebounding. It was a game even Bill Walton would have enjoyed.

UCLA had an impressive night from all of their players. Their combined effort proved that UCLA was greater than sum of their parts. Travis Wear ended the night with 16 points. Norman Powell put in a strong effort for 22 points, most on athletic drives to the hoop. Kyle Anderson, once again, finished with a near triple-double, 13 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

Even at the end of the game, Korey Alford, Noah Allen, Wanaah Bail, David Brown and Aubrey Willaims made an appearance, and in their respective ways, also dominated Stanford in this game.

Not only was this an impressive win for UCLA, it gives them some momentum going into the match that everyone wants to see…

UCLA versus Arizona for the Pac-12 Championship.

Mike W.R.

Twitter: @TheBigDisco