UCLA Basketball: Bruins Dominate in Opening Game Against Sydney University

The UCLA Basketball team dominated in the first game of their Australia tour as the Bruins defeated Sydney University, 123-75.

If you were able to stay up late and check out the newest edition of the UCLA Basketball team, then you were in for treat. The Bruins, with talented freshman Lonzo Ball, TJ Leaf and Ike Anigbogu in the mix, were able to dominate the first game of their Australia Tour and give hope to the future of UCLA Basketball..

This is a different team. It took a while for them to get going, but half way through the first quarter (they played 10-minute quarters rather than 20-minute halves) the Bruins were able to get things going and show that they are nothing like last year’s squad

UCLA did not start any of their freshmen, instead opting for PG Aaron Holiday, SG Bryce Alford, SF Isaac Hamilton, PF Gyorgy Goloman and C Thomas Welsh. While curiosity was piqued with Head Coach Steve Alford‘s choice to go with these starters, throughout the game he tried several different lineup which looks promising for the future of the Bruins.

Welsh got the scoring surge started early as he had 6 points in the first quarter. By halftime he had 10 on 5-for-5 shooting, which were mostly hook shots. He finished the game with 12 points and 9 rebounds and overall looked very sharp.

Isaac Hamilton was on fire early as he ended the half with 11 points (18 total). Aaron Holiday also stood out, but mostly for his defense. His on-ball skills were reminiscent of Darren Collison. Surprisiningly though, he was initially the most active on the boards as he ended the first half with 8 rebounds. He finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Look for Holiday to run the point a lot the season if this game is any indication of how the season will go.

Bryce Alford had a particularly quiet 17 points. As the main distributor last season, Alford took a back seat to Holiday and Ball running the point. That benefitted him as a shooting guard as he was able to move around and free him self up for his shots as he finished 6-for-10 on the night.

Next: Freshmen Impact and Overall Performance

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

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.

Next: SHoudl UCLA Retire Don MacLean's Jersey?

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.