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[Update w Video] Hoops Roundup: UCLA Runs Away from CSUN

UPDATE (N): Official site has the recap up with some game highlights:


I really loved the first thing out of Zeke Jones was about the focus on defense. GO BRUINS. -N

The era of "push" basketball opened about as perfectly as possible for UCLA:

UCLA had promised to play fast, but no one said anything about starting games at warp speed. The Bruins scored basket after basket, essentially ending any suspense about the outcome in the first five minutes.

It was like a highlight reel stuck on fast forward. Bruins guard Lazeric Jones repeatedly buried jumpers and forward Tyler Honeycutt whisked an over-the-shoulder pass to Reeves Nelson for a dunk.

"We just wanted to set the tone for what's going to happen this year," said Nelson, who finished with a game-high 17 points on six-for-six shooting.

The early lead eventually swelled to 28 points as UCLA made a staggering 72% of its shots in the first half.

The score could have went higher but the Bruins let up in the second half.  After a Reeves Nelson three pointer (the first of his career), the Bruins had 72 points with almost 12 minutes to play.  The rest of the game we only scored 11 with Blake Arnet getting a career high four minutes,

The official box score is here and as Patroclus ponts out there were some problems from the new fast pace, a lot of turnovers and too many offensive rebounds given up but the pluses last night outweighed the minuses by a mile.  

The lone negative for the Bruins on Friday was 22 turnovers, clearly a byproduct of their offensive tempo. But UCLA's pace seemed to entice sloppy play from Northridge, which had 27 turnovers. The Bruins, which openly criticized their defense in the preseason, had 17 steals and 12 blocks while holding the Matadors to 29 percent shooting. They also took four charges.

The "push"  Bruins are better than last year.  But keep in mind this was a CSUN team with 1 returning starter.  The games keep getting harder but it should be fun to watch this team grow and improve. 

Go Bruins.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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