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[patsweetpat]

Los Angeles, CA - 8:30pm

Video: http://pac-12.com/live/ucla

Audio: http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx

Live Stats: http://uclabruins.com/livestats

Tonight the Bruins play their first game of the season against the University of Pacific Tigers. It'll be the back-end of a double-header, and will tip off 30 minutes after the end of the men's game... so, right around 8:30 or so.

Pacific is... eh, not a *great* team, and probably not even a good one, but they're not abysmal, either. They did, last year, beat UNC (in Chapel Hill) and they beat Gonzaga, so that's not nothing. Yes, the Tar Heels and Bulldogs were down last year, but still.

This will, of course, be the season's first game for the Tigers (as it will be for the Bruins), so the closest I can come to analyzing this opponent is to look at its tendencies from last season. What did Pacific like to do? Pacific liked to jack up trey attempts. They hoisted 24 3FGA's per game last season, the most in the WCC (the Bruins, by comparison, attempted just 13 three pointers per game). Now, Pacific's shooting average from the perimeter was poor: just .296 on the season; that's second-worst in the WCC. But when the Tigers got hot, they did damage. Fingers crossed that tonight is not one of their hot-shooting nights. My understanding is that the UCLA staff has been trying to experiment with some zone defense during this past off-season. Should be interesting to see how much zone the Bruins play tonight against a free-firing opponent, and if the UCLA coaching staff decides to stick with said zone even if (especially if?) Pacific starts to find some shooting room from the arc.

FWIW, Pacific lost its top-scorer from last season, but brings back basically the entire rest of its team, and features a pre-season all-WCC guard/forward in Desire Finnie.

Okay, that's all from me. See you all at Pauley.

[patsweetpat]

UCLA started slow tonight (14-43 FG in the first half) and and Pacific started fast (4 of 5 from beyond the arc to begin the game), which made for a close-ish front frame of tonight's contest. Fortunately for the Bruins, though their shooting was iffy tonight (38.7% overall FG%), they did just about everything else well, and it was more than enough to put this game away by the midpoint of the 3rd quarter.

*UCLA rebounded well, especially on the offensive glass: they grabbed 22 offensive boards, and 60 overall (compared to Pacific's 5/32).

*UCLA defended very well, holding the Tigers to a dismal PPP of .627 (per my calculations). UCLA also got 12 blocks tonight, including 4 for Ashley Hearn, in just 13 minutes of play. In fact, lemme take this opportunity to give Ashley a special shout out for tonight's performance. She looked about 800% more comfortable this evening than I've yet seen her on a D1 basketball court. In fact, tonight may've been the first time ever that I've seen her actually smile while wearing a uniform. There were about 4 straight defensive possessions tonight-- all in the 4th quarter-- where Ashley just consistently got her big ol' mitts on the ball. Just so big and disruptive! And the best thing to witness was how happy her teammates were for her. Ashley had a tough freshman year, there's no denying it, so it's wonderful to see the light start to turn on for her now (albeit against, yes, not-especially-premium competition).

*Speaking of smiles on the basketball court, I defy Nicole Kornet *not* to be one of your instant favs. She just plays with so much joy. And knocking down 3-for-8 from the arc is not too terrible either. Welcome, welcome, welcome Nicole.

*5 (!) different players hit treys tonight, including Ally Rosenblum (!!!!!!!). Everyone who predicted that Ally Rosenblum would knock down her first three-point attempt in today's game, please collect your prize in the lobby. Overall, UCLA didn't have an especially efficient game from long range: they hit just 27% from three-point distance. But on a night when Kari Korver goes just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, if UCLA can still manage to get 7 attempts to drop, I think the Bruins will take it.

*On the bad side: too many turnovers for the Bruins tonight: 21. The good news, I suppose, hidden in the bad news: not too many of those turnovers were live-ball turnovers (Pacific stole just 7 balls). Instead, the Bruins had several offensive fouls tonight, and a couple 3-in-the-keys, a few illegal screens, and more than a few possessions where they simply (and sloppily) chucked the ball into the stands. Those don't turn into fast break points (indeed, Pacific only scored just a couple of fast break points all night long), but it's certainly not a good habit for the Bruins to get into.

So that was that.

Stuff's about to get a *lot* realer for the Bruins now. They travel to Waco to face the Lady Bears on Monday night. Baylor just spanked Houston Baptist tonight, 118-43, in front of 5,500 fans, so UCLA has an incredible test ahead. Should be fun to see how it responds.

Go Bruins!

[myrtle]

thanks for your recap Pat.

_________________
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if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
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