UCLA takes it slow and easy

During this stretch of basketball games for No. 1-ranked UCLA, with Cal State Fullerton next up Tuesday after a victory over Long Beach State and this game against UC Riverside, blowouts are expected. The intrigue comes in how the Bruins (6-0) work toward the final margins.

For example, in Sunday’s 61-38 victory over the Highlanders at Pauley Pavilion, Riverside was committed to playing as slowly and safely as possible on offense. The score was 26-16 at halftime and the feeling was that half of the 8,397 fans were embracing a post-celebratory nap after UCLA’s football upset of USC. So it paid to focus on the small things.

Such as when sophomore backup Michael Roll set a classic screen -- his arms crossed over his stomach, his feet set wide apart and steady, to free up Arron Afflalo for an open baseline jump shot.

Or when junior center Lorenzo Mata, still working into his best game condition after October knee surgery, made a left-handed hook shot from the lane. With a straight face afterward, Mata said, “I always had that shot in my repertoire,” but Mata is right-handed and that he went with his left so easily is a good sign for the Bruins.

UCLA also had to be encouraged as freshman James Keefe scored off an offensive rebound and Darren Collison continued to play under control, valuing every possession. He had only three turnovers.

The nitpicks were there too. UCLA’s foul shooting was not good. The Bruins were seven for 14 from the free-throw line though Mata, who had been four for 21 this season, made two of his three free throws Sunday.

“I’m ecstatic about that,” Bruins Coach Ben Howland said. He wasn’t being sarcastic, just happy.

The undermanned Highlanders (3-5) are trying to get through the season. One of their players was killed in a preseason car accident and two others are out because of injuries suffered during the same accident. A starter was sidelined for the season last week because of a dislocated knee, and Coach Dave Spencer is taking a season-long medical leave of absence. So Riverside had only one idea Sunday.

“To slow things down,” interim coach Vonn Webb said of the plan.

“We were trying to keep our turnovers down and cut the game to a half. We did to a degree.”

Afflalo, who led the Bruins with 13 points but who made only one of his five three-point shots, said the tempo was frustrating.

“It was pretty difficult,” Afflalo said. “There’s a lot of aggressive guys on this team, a lot of ability on this team, and we also have to understand we’re the No. 1-ranked team and other teams are willing to do anything against us to win.”

After the Highlanders scored the first four points of the second half to trail 26-20, the Bruins broke open the game with a 12-2 run that featured Afflalo’s only three pointer followed by his rattling in an open baseline jump shot, courtesy of that Roll screen.

There was not a lot of emotion on the floor or in the stands. One man walked up the Pauley steps after the game, turned to the woman next to him and said, “Did that put you to sleep too, hon?” She nodded yes.

“It was pretty down,” Collison said. “The way the team played against us contributed. Tuesday should be a much more exciting game.”

While the Highlanders settled for mostly jump shots after choosing to pass the ball around the perimeter for long stretches as the 35-second shot clock wound down, Howland said his team’s defense was good.

“We were probably on defense for 23 minutes of the game and on offense for maybe 17. That’s hard,” Howland said.

But they did it. No Riverside player scored more than eight points, and the Highlanders made only 15 of 50 shots overall.