The UCLA Basketball team is pushing the pace and is one of the top scoring teams in the nation in this early part of the season. Unfortunately, they are not doing well in limiting points allowed.
We heard it all offseason… the UCLA Basketball team is going to play fast, push the ball down the court and score in droves.
That has since become a reality. The Bruins are doing an exquisite job of putting the ball in the basket to start this new season. In their first two games, UCLA has topped 100 points.
They beat Pacific 119-80 and CSUN 102-87. That is a lot of points… for everyone.
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Yes, the Bruins are scoring and winning, but the number that stands out to me is 83.5. That is the average amounts of points UCLA has allowed per game. It is the 268th best in Division I Basketball (out of 334 teams). Ouch.
The good thing is, UCLA is in fact one of the best scoring teams in the nation, so far. The Bruins are averaging 110.5 points per game, which makes them the 7th best scoring team in the country. Excellent, especially when considering they averaged 76.7 points per game last season (and yes, I am aware that it is two games in and these numbers with smooth out as the season progresses).
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They also only allowed 76.7 points per game last season, which should raise eye brows as they are giving up 83.5 this year.
That in fact is a direct correlation to the lack of defense. The Bruins are not exactly playing Ben (Howland) ball. There are some improvements and a few individuals are stepping up, but the overall defensive production needs to improve.
On Sunday, we saw what a determined CSUN team did against UCLA. They played up-tempo themselves and were able to maneuver through the Bruins’ defense with ease. Whether it was outside shots or driving through the lane, the Matadors did not have a lot of resistance.
In that game, the Bruins started slow and missed a lot of shots. They only made 39.3 percent of their attempts in the first half. That was quite different from the hot first half start they had against Pacific. In that game, they shot 58.3 percent from the floor (and even better from 3-point land, 58.8%).
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Right there that shows that UCLA can be stopped. If that is the case and they cannot stop their opponent, then the Bruins will have a hard time when they face very good offensive teams. Just keep that in mind.