UCLA Overpowers Colorado in The Second Half For 72-59 Victory, Norman Powell Has Another Solid Game

After UCLA‘s huge win over the #11 Utah Utes on Thursday, the Bruins did much of the same to the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday night with a 72-59 win. The Bruins were able to do on their home court what the they could not achieve in Boulder less than a month ago and put away a lowly Colorado squad. Though UCLA made it a close game, they ended up losing that contest on the road. Things were different when both teams met at Pauley Pavilion where the Bruins have only lost once this season.

UCLA had a decent start to the game, at least on the defensive end. The Bruins had at one point held Colorado to less than 25% shooting in the first half, though it did not help that UCLA had only shot 40.7% themselves by the break. The Bruins could have easily blown out the Buffaloes before halftime, but had troubles of their own as scoring was few and far between.

Norman Powell was the one Bruin that was consistent throughout the game. The senior guard had finished with a game-high 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting and even pulled down 5 rebounds. He also wrecked havoc on the Buffaloes defensively as he notched five steals. And how about those dunks?

UCLA Bruins

The Bruins once again had a lot of activity from their bench as they were forced into action early with Tony Parker getting into foul trouble. Overall, Parker was a non-factor from the start of the game as he only got 5 points and 3 rebounds. With Parker struggling, that gave Thomas Welsh, Noah Allen and Gyorgy Goloman more time on the court. Though they did not record a whole lot on the stat sheet, they were superb with their execution and hustle in other facets of the game which paid dividends for the Bruins down the stretch.

Though improved after halftime, the second half did not start the way the Bruins had expected. UCLA had missed their first four shots while Colorado made their first three to get within one point. Luckily, that was about all the Buffaloes could do as the Bruins slowly started to pull away five minutes into the second half and eventually outscored Colorado 45-36 after the break.

Kevon Looney had improved as the game progressed and finished with another double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bryce Alford, who did not hit a single shot in the first half, finished with 8 points. Isaac Hamilton also had a decent game as he ended up with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

January 31, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Buffaloes guard Xavier Talton (3) moves the ball ahead of UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) during the first half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

It was not pretty, but it was a win as UCLA improves to 13-9, 5-4 on the season. Hopefully the Bruins can carry that momentum with them up north for their next road trip to Stanford and Cal. This season, UCLA is 2-8 when playing away from Pauley Pavilion.