Bruins Finally Feeling Sound

The cure for what ailed them arrived from far and near, from New York and from within.

Iona’s Gaels took care of the distance part. Then 13th-ranked UCLA took care of them, dominating the second half and cruising to a 105-73 victory Saturday before 7,261 at Pauley Pavilion in the Bruins’ first extended stretch of consistent play, or at least consistently good play.

The healing powers for their scoring leaders of the evening, Earl Watson and Ray Young, were much closer to home, simple remedies that offered contradictions as strong as their play:

Ignoring themselves.

Watson, the team captain and point guard, said he wouldn’t play if he felt like this, then felt like this and played. He had 18 points, seven assists and three steals.

Young, already pushing for a spot in the starting lineup after all of two full practices, said he wouldn’t wear tape again to protect his still-fragile right thumb because it bothered his shot too much. Then he wore tape again, hit five of six three-pointers and six of eight shots overall en route to 17 points in 17 minutes.

Liars, both.

Heroes too.

The Bruins, unimpressive in the two exhibition games and Tuesday’s regular-season opener against Fairfield, also got a second consecutive double-double from Jerome Moiso (14 points and 10 rebounds) and shot 50% to improve to 2-0. Even the change to the starting lineup, though not the one expected, paid off as Sean Farnham, inserted instead of Dan Gadzuric, coupled a rare offensive contribution of eight points with his signature energy and inside toughness.

It came as five Bruins scored in double figures. Their press was a key in Iona committing 28 turnovers. The opponents this time, also massive underdogs, were dispatched with much greater ease than those of four days earlier.

UCLA and a clean bill of health. What a concept.

“It was kind of a breakthrough in our practices,” Coach Steve Lavin said of the week. “And I think tonight we saw a breakthrough in our game. It’s kind of a carry-over.”

In the energy, at least. In other ways, there was an obvious change.

Watson, for one. He had already asked Lavin to not play him Saturday, hoping the extended rest would allow his sore lower back, the result of a hard fall in the Nov. 18 exhibition game, to heal once and for all. He didn’t want to have a stop-and-go junior season. He didn’t want to play at less than 100%.

Of course, such comments, out of the frustration of a lingering injury, were believed by a grand total of no one in the UCLA locker room. Watson may go for the dramatics, they understood, but never the easy way out. Through a series of other nagging injuries, after all, he had never so much as missed a start as a Bruin let alone a game, a streak that was at 65 after Fairfield.

“He created a little drama, bated breath, pins and needles,” Lavin said. “But I expected him to be in the starting lineup.”

Watson insists it was hardly a done deal. As recently as Saturday afternoon, he considered asking out, after feeling encouraged about the back at practice the day before only to feel the soreness on game day.

“I came very close,” he said. “It’s something I thought about a lot.”

All the Bruins can say for certain is that they’re glad he didn’t follow through. Coming off the three-for-12 shooting performance against Fairfield, Watson made all four shots in the first half, had five assists and three steals, and paced the team’s 53.3% shooting. He finished six of eight and even got some rest because of the second-half blowout, playing only 28 minutes, a cameo by his standards.

Playing was never the concern for Young. Shooting was.

Counted on to be one of the Bruins’ best perimeter weapons, which along with his standout defense made him a challenger for a starting job at one of the two wing spots, he missed all six shots in the opener. Frustrated by that and the lack of mobility with the thumb, Young figured the tape was a major problem. If nothing else, it made him think about the injury, so he said he would ditch it for Iona.

Except that he didn’t, because the trainer said it was still needed. There was a change, though. He got to take part in full practices, as opposed to being allowed in only for non-contact work, on Wednesday and Friday, the first such workouts in about three weeks.

Come Saturday evening, he still had the tape--and then hit a three-pointer with his first shot. And then a three-pointer with his second. And then a three-pointer with his third.

After a miss early in the second half, Young converted another try from behind the arc and, for something different, from inside. The baskets helped the Bruins turn the game into a rout, the lead eventually reaching 36 points.

“If I have another shooting game like this, I might have to leave it on,” he said.

Feeling good, these Bruins. Finally.

Up Next for UCLA

* Wednesday vs. Morgan State, 7:30 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion--The Bruins get what should be one final tuneup before the nonconference gets tough: Gonzaga and DePaul come to town after Morgan State.