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UCLA Basketball: Bruins Dominate in Opening Game Against Sydney University

By Mike Regalado

Jan 23, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Aaron Holiday (3) and UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and UCLA Bruins center Thomas Welsh (40) and talk between plays against the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Aaron Holiday (3) and UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and UCLA Bruins center Thomas Welsh (40) and talk between plays against the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports /
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High School Basketball: McDonald
High School Basketball: McDonald /

Freshman Performance

But what about the freshmen? In a word, they were “impressive”.

T.J. Leaf was the first newbie to get on the board and had 9 points by the half. His style of play was very finesse-like as he moved around smoothly under he basket. His night ended with a game-high 21 points and 9 rebounds.

UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins /

UCLA Bruins

Ike Anigbogu is a player that Bruin fans need to know about ASAP! He made himself a presence down low and was quite intimidating as we saw after he pinned a ball to the backboard for a block in the 2nd quarter. He also showed his athleticism with several vicious dunks. He finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks.

As for Lonzo Ball, well he did what he does best, he balled out! It took a few plays, but he was able to take control of the offense the first time he stepped on the court, which moved more fluidly thanks to him. Ball finished with 7 points, 2 assists and 2 blocks by half time (he only added 2 more points in the second half).

Overall, UCLA was in complete control of the game. They were able to do what they wanted on offense and were not horrible on defense.

Aside from letting a few too many Sydney players blow past them, the defense held their own, though the Bruins need to work on boxing out under the basket. The smaller Sydney squad easily maneuvered around the paint. Though they might have gotten faced up by the Bruin bigs and blocked on several occasions, they were still able to get some points down under and were not afraid to do it..

The coach himself looked to have a better grasp on the game. Alford was better with roster management, his substitutions which capitalized on mis-matches and did well formulating the overall fast-paced Lonzo Ball-led style seemed to suit the Bruins.

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Clearly though, it was the offense that is going to be the foundation of this team. The Bruins in general were active, the big men went after the offensive rebounds and the passing was very, very good. Despite playing a team with considerably lesser talent (no offense Sydney), it was good to see the team take a step away from their performance last season.