UCLA Basketball: Three Takeaways from their win against Lafayette

UCLA had a strong second half to get them their second-season victory.

UCLA overcame a slow start to defeat Lafayette, 68-50. The Bruins trailed by nine points early in the second half before going on a 30-4 run to take control of the game. Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack led UCLA with 18 points apiece.

UCLA’s defense was one of the keys to their victory over Lafayette. The Bruins held the Leopards to only 33.7% shooting from the field and forced 14 turnovers.

UCLA’s young players stepped up in a big way in their win over Lafayette as well. Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews as mentioned earlier played well as he scored a career-high 18 points, and true freshman guard Sebastian Mack added 18 points and five rebounds.

Let’s take a look at the three quick takeaways from the Bruin’s win over Lafayette.

The Bruins did not play well in the first half against the Leopards.

UCLA trailed Lafayette going into halftime 33-30. Unlike their season opener when the Bruins held St. Francis (PA) to only 22 first-half points, UCLA’s defense allowed the Leopards to go on a 12-4 run to close the first half. The Bruins shot 34.6% (9 of 26) in the first half, only made three of their first 17 field goal attempts, and didn’t box out well allowing Lafayette to out-rebound them in the first half.

UCLA played a much better second half to get them a victory.

When Layfayette was leading 43-34 with approximately 15 minutes left in the game, UCLA responded in a big way. After some made free throws and a three-pointer, the Bruins cut the lead to only four points with around 13 minutes remaining in the game.

UCLA would then go on an amazing run scoring 17 straight points and the Bruins had scored 10 straight after a Lafayette player had converted a layup for the Leopards, which brought the score to 68-47, giving the Bruins a commanding lead.

The Bruins’ defense stepped up during those final 13 minutes of the game holding the Leopards to only make 2 of 16 shots from the field and forcing Lafayette to commit seven turnovers over those thirteen minutes.

The UCLA bench stepped up in this game and four of them are true freshmen.

Three of the Bruins’s five starters combined for only eight points on a combined two of ten shooting from the field and committing four turnovers. Four UCLA players who came into the game from the bench total scored 31 points.

Three of those players made five out of seven field goal attempts and the other player made nine out of his 12 free throw attempts. Those players were Aday Mara who scored five points with two rebounds and one assist in 11 minutes of play, Jan Vide who had three points and three points in only seven minutes of play, Ilane Fibleuil had five points, three rebounds, and an assist. The other player as mentioned earlier was Mack who had 18 points, five rebounds, and an assist. All four of them are true freshmen and are a part of arguably the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.